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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §41.1.3.pr-41.1.3.2

Occupation of Ownerless Property and the Escape of Wild Animals

Passage 6632 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Gaius explains the principle of the occupation of ownerless property using wild animals as an example, stating that ownership is acquired regardless of where they are caught, though landowners can prohibit entry, and that ownership ends once they escape and regain liberty.

[GAIUS libro secundo rerum cottidianarum siue aureorum. ] §41.1.3.prQuod enim nullius est, id ratione naturali occupanti conceditur.
[GAIUS, Everyday Matters (or Golden Words), Book II] For what belongs to no one is, by natural reason, granted to the occupant.
§41.1.3.1Nec interest quod ad feras bestias et uolucres, utrum in suo fundo quisque capiat an in alieno.
Nor does it make a difference, as regards wild beasts and birds, whether one captures them on one's own land or on another's.
plane qui in alienum fundum ingreditur uenandi aucupandiue gratia, potest a domino, si is prouiderit, iure prohiberi ne ingrederetur.
However, one who enters another's land for the purpose of hunting or fowling can, if the owner foresees it, be lawfully prohibited by the owner from entering.
§41.1.3.2Quidquid autem eorum ceperimus, eo usque nostrum esse intellegitur, donec nostra custodia coercetur: cum uero euaserit custodiam nostram et in naturalem libertatem se receperit, nostrum esse desinit et rursus occupantis fit:
Moreover, whatever of them we have captured is understood to be ours only so long as it is kept under our custody; but when it has escaped our custody and regained its natural liberty, it ceases to be ours and becomes again the property of the occupant.

Notes

  1. 41.1.3.1quod ad — The phrase 'quod ad' followed by the accusative is an idiomatic expression meaning 'as regards' or 'with respect to', serving to introduce or limit the topic at the beginning of the clause rather than acting as a subject or object.
  2. 41.1.3.1si is prouiderit — 'prouiderit' is the perfect subjunctive or future perfect indicative of the verb 'prouideo' (to foresee, notice beforehand). It expresses a completed precondition in the conditional clause, where the landowner notices the intrusion in advance.
  3. 41.1.3.1ne ingrederetur — The conjunction 'ne' introduces a negative clause of effort or purpose functioning as the complement to the passive infinitive 'prohiberi' ('to be prohibited'). The imperfect subjunctive 'ingrederetur' is used due to the sequence of tenses (reflecting an historical present or potential context) relative to 'potest'.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §41.1.3.pr-41.1.3.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:41.1.3.pr-41.1.3.2

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