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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §4.4.46.pr

Voluntary Defense of a Minor and Restitution on Judgment

Passage 748 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

A voluntary defender of a minor who is condemned in court cannot escape the judgment debt, nor can he or the minor whom he represented obtain restitution against the judgment on the basis of the minor's age.

[PAULUS libro secundo responsorum. ] §4.4.46.prEum, qui ex sua uoluntate minorem annis in iudicio defendit et condemnatus est, ex causa iudicati posse conueniri nec eius quem defendit aetatem ad restitutionem impetrandam ei prodesse, cum causam iudicati recusare non possit.
[PAULUS, in the second book of Responses.] A person who, of his own free will, defends a minor in a lawsuit and has judgment given against him can be sued on the judgment; nor does the age of the person whom he defended benefit him for obtaining restitution, since he cannot refuse the judgment debt.
ex quo apparet nec eum, cuius nomine condemnatus est, auxilium restitutionis propter eam sententiam implorare posse.
From this it appears that neither can he in whose name judgment was given implore the aid of restitution on account of that judgment.

Notes

  1. 4.4.46.prEum — The text begins with an accusative and infinitive construction (Eum... posse conueniri nec... prodesse) without an explicit main governing verb. This is typical of juristic responses (responsa) excerpted in the Digest, where a verb of answering or deciding is understood from the context.
  2. 4.4.46.preius — The genitive 'eius' serves as the antecedent of 'quem defendit' and modifies 'aetatem'. It refers to the minor who was defended. By contrast, the dative 'ei' (in 'ei prodesse') refers to the voluntary defender ('eum' at the beginning of the sentence). Thus, the minor's age does not benefit the defender for obtaining restitution.
  3. 4.4.46.prcuius nomine condemnatus est — In the relative clause 'cuius nomine condemnatus est' (in whose name he was condemned), the subject of the verb 'condemnatus est' is not the immediate antecedent 'eum' (which refers to the minor), but rather the voluntary defender from the preceding sentence. The relative pronoun 'cuius' refers to the minor, meaning 'in whose (the minor's) name the defender was condemned'.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §4.4.46.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:4.4.46.pr

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