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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §4.6.20.pr

Denial of Utilis Action to Captured Buyer

Passage 783 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

The author argues that a utilis action should not be granted to a buyer captured by the enemy, as it would be unjust to deprive the owner of what has not been lost through usucapion.

[IDEM libro tertio decimo quaestionum. ] §4.6.20.prNec utilem actionem ei tribui oportet, cum sit iniquissimum auferre domino, quod usus non abstulit: neque enim intellegitur amissum, quod ablatum alteri non est.
[IDEM libro tertio decimo quaestionum.] Nor is it proper that a utilis action be granted to him, since it is most unjust to take away from the owner what long-term use has not taken away; for that which has not been taken away from another is not understood to have been lost.

Notes

  1. §4.6.20.prdomino — A dative of separation used with the verb auferre ('to take away'), indicating the person from whom something is taken (the owner).
  2. §4.6.20.prusus — Here, it refers not merely to 'use' but to usucapion (usucapio), i.e., acquisition of ownership by long-term use.
  3. §4.6.20.pralteri — A dative of separation used with the perfect passive participle ablatum, meaning 'taken away from another'.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §4.6.20.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:4.6.20.pr

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