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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §42.1.55.pr

Cessation of Judicial Office and Inability to Alter a Judgment

Passage 6907 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This section explains the rule of law that once a judge pronounces a sentence, they cease to hold judicial office and cannot modify their judgment, whether the condemnation was for more or less than what was proper.

[ULPIANUS libro quinquagensimo primo ad Sabinum. ] §42.1.55.prIudex posteaquam semel sententiam dixit, postea iudex esse desinit: et hoc iure utimur, ut iudex, qui semel uel pluris uel minoris condemnauit, amplius corrigere sententiam suam non possit: semel enim male seu bene officio functus est.
[ULPIANUS, in the fifty-first book On Sabinus.] After a judge has once pronounced judgment, he thereafter ceases to be a judge; and we apply this rule of law, that a judge, who has once condemned for either a larger or smaller sum, cannot further correct his sentence; for he has once and for all performed his office, whether badly or well.

Notes

  1. §42.1.55.prhoc iure utimur, ut — An explanatory (or result) `ut` clause defining the content of the demonstrative ablative phrase `hoc iure` ("we apply this rule of law, namely that...").
  2. §42.1.55.prpluris uel minoris — Genitives of value (or price), used with the verb of judicial condemnation (`condemnauit`) to express condemning "for a larger or smaller sum" than what was appropriate or claimed.
  3. §42.1.55.profficio functus est — The deponent verb `fungor` (to perform, discharge) governs the ablative case, which is why the noun `officium` appears in the ablative form `officio`.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §42.1.55.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:42.1.55.pr

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