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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §43.26.4.pr-43.26.4.4

Precarium in Movables and the Scope of Possession

Passage 7154 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Ulpian explains the application of precarium to movable property, the possessory nature of holding by precarium, and its acquisition through subordinates. He also discusses the impossibility of having a precarium over one's own property and the tacit renewal of the agreement after its term expires.

[ULPIANUS libro septuagensimo primo ad edictum. ] §43.26.4.prIn rebus etiam mobilibus precarii rogatio constitit.
[ULPIANUS, Edict, book seventy-one.] Request for a precarium is established also in respect of movable things.
§43.26.4.1Meminisse autem nos oportet eum, qui precario habet, etiam possidere.
However, we ought to remember that he who holds by precarium also possesses.
§43.26.4.2Tenetur hoc interdicto non utique ille, qui precario rogauit, sed qui precario habet: etenim fieri potest, ut quis non rogauerit, sed habeat precario.
Subject to this interdict is not necessarily he who requested by precarium, but he who holds by precarium; for it can happen that someone did not request, but holds by precarium.
ut puta seruus meus rogauit: mihi adquisiit precarium: uel quis alius, qui iuri meo subiectus est.
For example, my slave requested: he acquired the precarium for me; or someone else who is subject to my power.
§43.26.4.3Item si rem meam precario rogauero, rogaui quidem precario, sed non habeo precario idcirco, quia receptum est rei suae precarium non esse.
Likewise, if I have requested my own property by precarium, I did indeed request by precarium, but I do not hold by precarium, for the reason that it is accepted that there is no precarium of one's own property.
§43.26.4.4Item qui precario ad tempus rogauit, finito tempore, etiamsi ad hoc temporis non rogauit, tamen precario possidere uidetur: intellegitur enim dominus, cum patitur eum qui precario rogauerit possidere, rursus precario concedere.
Likewise, he who requested by precarium for a time, once the time has expired, even if he did not request for this subsequent time, is nevertheless seen to possess by precarium; for the owner, when he suffers him who requested by precarium to possess, is understood to grant it again by precarium.

Notes

  1. §43.26.4.prconstitit — The perfect form constitit (from consisto) does not refer to a single past event, but indicates a continuing state of affairs that has become established ('is established', 'is recognized'), acting as a gnomic or present perfect.
  2. §43.26.4.3rei suae precarium non esse — In the phrase rei suae precarium non esse, rei suae is a genitive of possession. It asserts the legal maxim that a precarium cannot exist over one's own property, since a person cannot hold their own property by a precarious tenure that implies return to another.
  3. §43.26.4.4ad hoc temporis — The phrase ad hoc temporis consists of the preposition ad with the neuter accusative pronoun hoc, followed by temporis as a partitive genitive. Literally 'up to this of time', meaning 'up to this time' or 'beyond this point in time'.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §43.26.4.pr-43.26.4.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:43.26.4.pr-43.26.4.4

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