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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §4.6.22.pr-4.6.22.2

Conditions for Undefended Status and Scope of Edict

Passage 785 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Paulus explains the procedural requirements for an absent person to be deemed undefended, such as inquiring of their friends, and mentions Labeo's view that this edict also applies to the insane, infants, and municipalities.

[PAULUS libro duodecimo ad edictum. ] §4.6.22.prErgo sciendum est non aliter hoc edictum locum habere, quam si amici eius interrogati fuerint, an defendant, aut si nemo sit, qui interrogari potest.
[PAULUS in the twelfth book on the Edict.] Therefore, it should be known that this edict does not apply otherwise than if his friends have been asked whether they will defend him, or if there is no one who can be asked.
ita enim absens defendi non uidetur, si actor ultro interpellat nec quisquam defensioni se offerat: eaque testatione complecti oportet.
For in this way, an absent person is deemed not to be defended if the plaintiff of his own accord makes inquiries and no one offers himself for the defense; and these matters ought to be recorded by an attestation.
§4.6.22.1Sicut igitur damno eos adfici non uult, ita lucrum facere non patitur.
Just as, therefore, [the praetor] does not wish them to be affected by loss, so he does not allow them to make a profit.
§4.6.22.2Quod edictum etiam ad furiosos et infantes et ciuitates pertinere Labeo ait.
Labeo says that this edict also applies to the insane, infants, and municipalities.

Notes

  1. §4.6.22.prnon aliter ... quam si — A strong limiting construction meaning "not otherwise ... than if," which strictly limits the conditions under which this edict applies.
  2. §4.6.22.preaque testatione complecti oportet — The infinitive `complecti` of the deponent verb `complector` is used here in a passive sense ("to be embraced, recorded"), forming an accusative-with-infinitive construction where the neuter plural `ea` ("these things") acts as the subject of the infinitive.
  3. §4.6.22.1non uult — The subject of the verb `uult` (and the subsequent `patitur`) is omitted but refers from the context to the "praetor" (the magistrate) who administers the edict and relief.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §4.6.22.pr-4.6.22.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:4.6.22.pr-4.6.22.2

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