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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §40.12.42.pr

New Title to a Slave and Defense of Res Judicata

Passage 6607 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Labeo asserts that if a purchased slave wins a freedom suit, and subsequently the buyer acquires ownership of him from his true owner by inheritance or other means, the buyer can claim him without being barred by the plea of res judicata, and Iavolenus agrees.

[LABEO libro quarto posteriorum. ] §40.12.42.prSi seruus quem emeras ad libertatem proclamauit et ab iudice perperam pro eo iudicatum est et dominus eius serui post rem contra te iudicatam te heredem fecit aut alio quo nomine is tuus esse coepisset, petere eum tuum esse poteris nec tibi obstabit rei iudicatae praescriptio.
[LABEO, in the fourth book of his Epitomes.] If a slave whom you had bought sued for his freedom, and judgment was erroneously rendered by the judge in his favor, and the owner of that slave, after the judgment rendered against you, made you his heir, or he began to be yours by some other title, you will be able to claim that he is yours, and the plea of res judicata will not stand in your way.
IAUOLENUS: haec uera sunt.
IAUOLENUS: This is correct.

Notes

  1. §40.12.42.prpro eo iudicatum est — For the impersonal passive iudicatum est ("judgment was rendered"), the prepositional phrase pro eo means "in his (the slave's) favor." In this context, it refers to a judgment declaring him to be a freeman.
  2. §40.12.42.prpost rem contra te iudicatam — An accusative phrase governed by the preposition post, where the noun rem agrees with the perfect passive participle iudicatam, forming a phrase referring to the entire event: "after the judgment was rendered against you (contra te)."
  3. §40.12.42.prpetere eum tuum esse poteris — The verb poteris ("you will be able") is completed by the infinitive petere ("to claim"), which takes the accusative-with-infinitive clause eum tuum esse ("that he is yours") as its object.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §40.12.42.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:40.12.42.pr

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