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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §39.6.7.pr

Effect of Capital Conviction on Mortis Causa Gifts

Passage 6257 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Ulpian explains that if a person makes a donation mortis causa and is subsequently condemned to a capital penalty, the donation is invalidated as incomplete, whereas other ordinary donations made without any anticipation of punishment remain valid.

[ULPIANUS libro trigensimo secundo ad Sabinum. ] §39.6.7.prSi aliquis mortis causa donauerit et poena fuerit capitis affectus, remouetur donatio ut inperfecta, quamuis ceterae donationes sine suspicione poenae factae ualeant.
[ULPIANUS, from the thirty-second book on Sabinus.] someone makes a donation mortis causa and is sentenced to the capital penalty, the donation is set aside as incomplete, although other donations made without suspicion of punishment remain valid.

Notes

  1. §39.6.7.prpoena fuerit capitis affectus — The subject is aliquis from the preceding clause, which goes with affectus fuerit (the future perfect or perfect passive of afficio, here split by hyperbaton). poena capitis refers to 'capital punishment' (death penalty or loss of citizenship), where poena is an ablative of instrument/cause and capitis is the genitive limiting it.
  2. §39.6.7.prut inperfecta — inperfecta is a feminine nominative singular adjective agreeing with the subject of the main clause, the feminine noun donatio. Since a donation mortis causa is only perfected upon the death of the donor, it is treated as 'incomplete' and revoked (remouetur) prior to the legal consequences of the capital sentence (such as confiscation of property).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §39.6.7.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:39.6.7.pr

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