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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §41.3.10.pr-41.3.10.2

Good Faith at Delivery, Servitudes, and Stolen Offspring

Passage 6762 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This section discusses the standard for determining good faith in usucapion, the limitation on acquiring servitudes by length of time, and whether the offspring of a stolen cow can be acquired by usucapion.

[ULPIANUS libro sexto decimo ad edictum. ] §41.3.10.prSi aliena res bona fide empta sit, quaeritur, ut usucapio currat, utrum emptionis initium ut bonam fidem habeat exigimus, an traditionis.
[ULPIANUS, On the Edict, book 16] If another's property has been bought in good faith, it is asked whether, in order for usucapion to run, we require that the beginning of the purchase should have good faith, or the beginning of delivery.
et optinuit Sabini et Cassii sententia traditionis initium spectandum.
And the opinion of Sabinus and Cassius prevailed, that the beginning of delivery is to be looked to.
H §41.3.10.1oc iure utimur, ut seruitutes per se nusquam longo tempore capi possint, cum aedificiis possint.
We apply this rule of law, that servitudes cannot be acquired by themselves anywhere by length of time, but they can be acquired along with buildings.
§41.3.10.2Scaeuola libro undecimo quaestionum scribit Marcellum existimasse, si bos apud furem concepit uel apud furis heredem pariatque apud furis heredem, usucapi ab herede distractum iuuencum non posse: sic, inquit, quemadmodum nec ancillae partus.
Scaevola writes in the eleventh book of Questions that Marcellus thought that if a cow conceived while with a thief or with the heir of a thief, and gave birth while with the heir of the thief, the young bull sold by the heir could not be acquired by usucapion: for, he says, just as the offspring of a female slave cannot.
Scaeuola autem scribit se putare usucapere posse et partum: nec enim esse partum rei furtiuae partem.
Scaevola, however, writes that he thinks that the offspring also can be acquired by usucapion: for the offspring is not a part of the stolen thing.
ceterum si esset pars, nec si apud bonae fidei emptorem peperisset, usucapi poterat.
Indeed, if it were a part, it could not have been acquired by usucapion even if it had been born while with a good faith purchaser.

Notes

  1. 41.3.10.prutrum emptionis initium ut bonam fidem habeat exigimus, an traditionis — The clause 'ut... habeat' serves as the object of 'exigimus', but the word order is inverted (hyperbaton) with 'emptionis initium' placed before 'ut'. Furthermore, 'an traditionis' represents an elliptical structure standing for 'an traditionis [initium ut bonam fidem habeat exigimus]'. This contrasts the beginning of the purchase with the beginning of the delivery as the required moment for good faith.
  2. 41.3.10.1Hoc iure utimur, ut... — The 'ut' clause is an appositive (explanatory) clause explaining the content of the demonstrative 'hoc' (which modifies 'iure', the object of the ablative-taking verb 'utimur'). Here 'ut' does not denote result or purpose, but indicates the substance of the rule of law.
  3. 41.3.10.2nec si apud bonae fidei emptorem peperisset, usucapi poterat — In this counterfactual conditional sentence referring to the past, the protasis has the pluperfect subjunctive (peperisset), while the apodosis has the imperfect indicative (usucapi poterat). In Latin, verbs of possibility, ability, or obligation (such as posse, debere) in the apodosis of a counterfactual conditional regularly take the indicative instead of the subjunctive.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §41.3.10.pr-41.3.10.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:41.3.10.pr-41.3.10.2

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