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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §4.3.15.pr-4.3.15.3

Action for Fraud Against Those Benefiting from Another's Fraud

Passage 676 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Ulpian discusses the applicability of the action for fraud (actio de dolo) when someone benefits from the fraud of a guardian, municipal administrators, or an agent, and notes that this action requires the identification of the specific wrongdoer, unlike the action for duress.

[ULPIANUS libro undecimo ad edictum. ] §4.3.15.prSed et ex dolo tutoris, si factus est locupletior, puto in eum dandam actionem, sicut exceptio datur.
[PAUL, book eleven on the Edict.] But also on account of the fraud of a guardian, if he has been made richer, I think that an action should be granted against him, just as an exception is granted.
§4.3.15.1Sed an in municipes de dolo detur actio, dubitatur.
But whether an action for fraud is granted against the members of a municipality is doubted.
et puto ex suo quidem dolo non posse dari: quid enim municipes dolo facere possunt? sed si quid ad eos peruenit ex dolo eorum, qui res eorum administrant, puto dandam.
And I think that it certainly cannot be granted on account of their own fraud; for what fraud can the members of a municipality commit? But if anything has come to them from the fraud of those who administer their affairs, I think it should be granted.
de dolo autem decurionum in ipsos decuriones dabitur de dolo actio.
However, concerning the fraud of the decurions, an action for fraud will be granted against the decurions themselves.
§4.3.15.2Item si quid ex dolo procuratoris ad dominum peruenit, datur in dominum de dolo actio in quantum ad eum peruenit: nam procurator ex dolo suo procul dubio tenetur.
Likewise, if anything has come to the principal from the fraud of an agent, an action for fraud is granted against the principal to the extent that it has come to him; for the agent is undoubtedly held liable for his own fraud.
§4.3.15.3In hac actione designari oportet, cuius dolo factum sit, quamuis in metu non sit necesse.
In this action, it is necessary to designate by whose fraud it was done, although in the case of duress, it is not necessary.

Notes

  1. §4.3.15.prsi factus est locupletior — The subject of "if he has been made richer" is not explicitly stated but refers to the ward (pupillus) who benefited from the act of the guardian (tutor). Although the fraud was committed by the guardian, if the ward gained enrichment from it, an action for fraud is granted against the ward (in eum) to that extent.
  2. §4.3.15.1puto dandam — dandam is the accusative feminine singular of the gerundive, forming an accusative-with-infinitive construction with the omission of the noun actionem and the copula esse (dandam esse actionem). It refers back to the detur actio in the preceding sentence, meaning "I think [the action] should be granted."
  3. §4.3.15.3in metu — “In [the case of] duress” refers to the action on account of duress (actio quod metus causa). Since this action is formulated in rem (in rem scripta) and can be brought against whoever currently holds the property obtained through duress without designating a specific wrongdoer, it is contrasted with the action for fraud (actio de dolo), which requires the specific culprit to be named.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §4.3.15.pr-4.3.15.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:4.3.15.pr-4.3.15.3

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