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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §4.3.21.pr

Action for Fraud Following Perjury in Acquittal by Oath

Passage 682 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Presents the conflicting views of Labeo, who allows an action for fraud if perjury is subsequently proved after an oath-based acquittal, and Pomponius and Marcellus, who oppose it on the ground that the oath must be respected as settling the matter.

[ULPIANUS libro undecimo ad edictum. ] §4.3.21.prQuod si deferente me iuraueris et absolutus sis, postea periurium fuerit adprobatum, Labeo ait de dolo actionem in eum dandam: Pomponius autem per iusiurandum transactum uideri, quam sententiam et Marcellus libro octauo digestorum probat: stari enim religioni debet.
[ULPIANUS libro undecimo ad edictum.] But if, upon my tendering the oath, you have sworn and been acquitted, and afterwards perjury has been proved, Labeo says that an action for fraud ought to be granted against him; Pomponius, however, thinks that the matter seems to have been settled by the oath, which opinion Marcellus also approves in the eighth book of his Digests; for the oath must be stood by.

Notes

  1. §4.3.21.prdeferente me — Ablative absolute. It reflects the legal term "deferre iusiurandum" (to tender/proffer an oath), which refers to the procedure where one party challenges the other to swear to the truth of their claim.
  2. §4.3.21.prin eum — Third-person pronoun. The defendant, addressed in the second person in the conditional clauses (iuraueris, absolutus sis), shifts to the third person (in eum) in the indirect speech of the main clause starting with "Labeo ait".
  3. §4.3.21.prstari enim religioni debet — The verb "stari" is the impersonal passive of the intransitive verb "stare" (to stand by, abide by), and "religioni" is the dative case governed by "stare" in this sense. Literally, "it must be stood by the religious obligation/oath," meaning the oath must be respected.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §4.3.21.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:4.3.21.pr

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