Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §41.4.4.pr-41.4.4.1

Usucapion of Land Partly Known to Belong to Another

Passage 6806 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This section discusses the possibility of usucapion when buying land knowing a part belongs to another, distinguishing between cases where the other part is unidentified, specified, or held as an undivided share.

[IAUOLENUS libro secundo ex Plautio. ] §41.4.4.prEmptor fundi partem eius alienam esse non ignorauerat: responsum est nihil eum ex eo fundo longa possessione capturum.
[IAUOLENUS, From Plautius, book 2] The buyer of a plot of land had not been ignorant of the fact that a part of it belonged to another: the response was that he would acquire nothing from that land by long possession.
quod ita uerum esse existimo, si, quae pars aliena esset in eo fundo, emptor ignorauerat: quod si certum locum esse sciret, reliquas partes longa possessione capi posse non dubito.
I think that this is true in this sense, if the buyer was ignorant of which part in that land belonged to another; but if he knew it to be a specific place, I do not doubt that the remaining parts can be acquired by long possession.
§41.4.4.1Idem iuris est, si is, qui totum fundum emebat, pro indiuiso partem aliquam alienam esse scit: eam enim dumtaxat non capiet, ceterarum partium non impedietur longa possessione capio.
The same rule of law applies if he who was buying the whole land knows that some part, as an undivided share, belongs to another; for he will not acquire that part alone, whereas the acquisition of the other parts by long possession will not be hindered.

Notes

  1. §41.4.4.prpartem eius alienam esse non ignorauerat — The double negative "non ignorauerat" ("had not been ignorant of") expresses positive knowledge ("knew well"). The accusative with infinitive clause "partem eius alienam esse" acts as the object of "ignorauerat".
  2. §41.4.4.prquae pars aliena esset in eo fundo — An indirect question clause acting as the object of "ignorauerat" within the conditional clause "si...". The subjunctive "esset" is used because it is an indirect question.
  3. §41.4.4.1pro indiuiso — A legal term meaning "undivided" or "as an undivided share/joint property", describing the nature of the portion ("partem aliquam") of the land belonging to another.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §41.4.4.pr-41.4.4.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:41.4.4.pr-41.4.4.1

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.