Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §41.7.4.pr

Usucapion of Abandoned Property of Unknown Owner

Passage 6830 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Paulus discusses that an abandoned thing can be acquired by usucapion even if the identity of the person who abandoned it is unknown.

[PAULUS libro quinto decimo ad Sabinum. ] §41.7.4.prId, quod pro derelicto habitum est et haberi putamus, usucapere possumus, etiam si ignoramus, a quo derelictum sit.
[PAULUS, from his fifteenth book on Sabinus.] That which has been abandoned and which we think is so regarded, we can acquire by usucapion, even if we do not know by whom it was abandoned.

Notes

  1. §41.7.4.prhaberi putamus — The relative pronoun quod (neuter singular) functions as the subject of the first verb habitum est, but in the second clause haberi putamus, it also functions as the subject accusative of the infinitive haberi. The phrase pro derelicto is understood to be supplied with haberi.
  2. §41.7.4.pra quo derelictum sit — The perfect subjunctive derelictum sit is used in the indirect question introduced by the main verb ignoramus (present) to represent an action completed prior to the main verb, in accordance with the sequence of tenses (consecutio temporum).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §41.7.4.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:41.7.4.pr

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.