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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §4.4.47.pr-4.4.47.1

Restitution for Sold Property and Partial Rescission

Passage 749 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

On whether a pupil can obtain restitution when a tutor sold assets in good faith due to urgent creditors, and whether a sale of common land by a curator can be partially rescinded after the minors obtain restitution, including the determination of who must return the purchase price.

[SCAEUOLA libro primo responsorum. ] §4.4.47.prTutor urguentibus creditoribus rem pupillarem bona fide uendidit, denuntiante tamen matre emptoribus: quaero, cum urgentibus creditoribus distracta sit nec de sordibus tutoris merito quippiam dici potest, an pupillus in integrum restitui potest.
[SCAEUOLA, in the first book of Responses.] A tutor, owing to the urgency of creditors, sold the property of his pupil in good faith, although the mother gave warning to the buyers. I ask: since the sale was made due to the urgency of the creditors, and nothing can justly be said against the integrity of the tutor, can the pupil be restored to his original condition?
respondi cognita causa aestimandum, nec idcirco, si iustum sit restitui, denegandum id auxilium, quod tutor delicto uacaret.
I answered that the matter must be decided after an investigation of the case; and if it is just that he be restored, this assistance should not be denied on the ground that the tutor was free from fault.
§4.4.47.1Curator adulescentium praedia communia sibi et his, quorum curam administrabat, uendidit: quaero, si decreto praetoris adulescentes in integrum restituti fuerint, an eatenus uenditio rescindenda sit, quatenus adulescentium pro parte fundus communis fuit? respondi eatenus rescindi, nisi si emptor a toto contractu uelit discedi, quod partem empturus non esset.
A curator of minors sold land held in common between himself and those whose affairs he was administering. I ask: if the minors have been restored to their original condition by a decree of the praetor, should the sale be rescinded to the extent that the land was held in common in proportion to the minors' share? I answered that it should be rescinded to that extent, unless the buyer wishes to withdraw from the entire contract, on the ground that he would not have purchased only a part.
item quaero, emptor utrum a Seio et Sempronio pupillis pretium cum usuris recipere deberet an uero ab herede curatoris? respondi heredes quidem curatoris teneri, uerum in Seium et Sempronium pro parte, qua eorum fundus fuit, actiones dandas: utique si ad eos accepta pecunia pro eadem parte peruenisset.
I also ask: should the buyer recover the price with interest from the pupils, Seius and Sempronius, or rather from the heir of the curator? I answered that the heirs of the curator are indeed liable, but actions should be granted against Seius and Sempronius in proportion to the share of the land which was theirs; at all events, if the money received had reached them in proportion to that same share.

Notes

  1. §4.4.47.prdenuntiante tamen matre emptoribus — An ablative absolute construction using the present participle, indicating the circumstance or concession ('although the mother gave warning').
  2. §4.4.47.prnec idcirco, si iustum sit restitui, denegandum id auxilium, quod tutor delicto uacaret — A correlation of 'nec idcirco ... quod ...' ('not therefore ... because ...'). The subjunctive 'uacaret' is used to represent the alleged reason (that the tutor was free from fault).
  3. §4.4.47.1nisi si emptor a toto contractu uelit discedi — 'discedi' is the impersonal passive infinitive of the intransitive verb 'discedere', serving as the complement of 'uelit' to mean 'unless the buyer wishes departure to be made (from the whole contract)'.
  4. §4.4.47.1actiones dandas — A gerundive construction expressing necessity or obligation in the accusative with infinitive, with 'esse' omitted, depending on 'respondi' ('that actions ought to be granted').

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §4.4.47.pr-4.4.47.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:4.4.47.pr-4.4.47.1

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