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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §40.16.3.pr

Invalidity of Status Decrees Lacking a Proper Opponent

Passage 6627 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Explains that a judicial decree declaring someone freeborn is completely ineffective and lacks the force of res iudicata if it was made without a proper opponent, as established by imperial constitutions.

[CALLISTRATUS libro quarto de cognitionibus. ] §40.16.3.prCum non iusto contradictore quis ingenuus pronuntiatus est, perinde inefficax est decretum, atque si nulla iudicata res interuenisset: idque principalibus constitutionibus cauetur.
[CALLISTRATUS, in the fourth book on Extraordinary Proceedings.] When someone has been declared freeborn without a proper opponent, the decree is just as ineffective as if no res iudicata had intervened; and this is provided for by imperial constitutions.

Notes

  1. §40.16.3.prnon iusto contradictore — An ablative absolute equivalent structure consisting of the noun contradictore and the adjective iusto negated by non, indicating the absence of a proper or legally qualified opposing party in the proceedings.
  2. §40.16.3.prperinde... atque si — A comparative correlative expression meaning "just as if," taking the pluperfect subjunctive (interuenisset) to express a past contrary-to-fact condition.
  3. §40.16.3.prnulla iudicata res — A legal subject referring to "res iudicata" (a matter already decided by judgment). It means that a decision made without a proper opponent does not gain the binding force of a final judgment.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §40.16.3.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:40.16.3.pr

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