[ULPIANUS libro septuagensimo primo ad edictum. ] §43.27.1.prAit praetor: 'Quae arbor ex aedibus tuis in aedes illius impendet, si per te stat, quo minus eam adimas, tunc, quo minus illi eam arborem adimere sibique habere liceat, uim fieri ueto'. §43.27.1.1Hoc interdictum prohibitorium est.
[ULPIANUS, On the Edict, book seventy-one.] The praetor says: "As for the tree which hangs over from your building onto the building of another, if it is due to you that you do not remove it, then I forbid force to be used to prevent him from being permitted to remove that tree and keep it for himself." This interdict is prohibitory.
§43.27.1.2Si arbor aedibus alienis impendeat, utrum totam arborem iubeat praetor adimi an uero id solum, quod superexcurrit, quaeritur.
If a tree hangs over another's building, the question is asked whether the praetor orders the whole tree to be removed or only that part which juts out.
et Rutilius ait a stirpe excidendam idque plerisque uidetur uerius: et nisi adimet dominus arborem, Labeo ait permitti ei, cui arbor officeret, ut si uellet succideret eam lignaque tolleret.
And Rutilius says that it must be cut down from the root, and this seems more correct to most authorities; and Labeo says that if the owner does not remove the tree, it is permitted to the person whom the tree is obstructing to cut it down if he wishes and take the wood.
§43.27.1.3Arboris appellatione etiam uites continentur.
Under the term "tree," vines are also included.
§43.27.1.4Non solum autem domino aedium, sed etiam ei qui usumfructum habet competit hoc interdictum, quia et ipsius interest arborem istam non impendere.
However, this interdict is available not only to the owner of the building but also to him who has the usufruct, because it is also in his interest that that tree does not hang over.
§43.27.1.5Praeterea probandum est, si arbor communibus aedibus impendeat, singulos dominos habere hoc interdictum et quidem in solidum, quia et seruitutium uindicationem singuli habeant.
Furthermore, it must be approved that if a tree hangs over a common building, the individual owners have this interdict, and indeed in solidum, because individual owners also have the claim for servitudes (uindicatio).
§43.27.1.6Ait praetor: 'si per te stat, quo minus eam adimas, quo minus illi eam arborem adimere liceat, uim fieri ueto'. prius itaque tibi datur adimendi facultas: si tu non facias, tunc uicino prohibet uim fieri adimere uolenti.
The praetor says: "If it is due to you that you do not remove it, I forbid force to be used to prevent him from being permitted to remove that tree." Therefore, first the power of removing is given to you; if you do not do so, then the praetor forbids force to be used against the neighbor who wishes to remove it.
§43.27.1.7Deinde ait praetor: 'Quae arbor ex agro tuo in agrum illius impendet, si per te stat, quo minus pedes quindecim a terra eam altius coerceas, tunc, quo minus illi ita coercere lignaque sibi habere liceat, uim fieri ueto'. §43.27.1.8Quod ait praetor, et lex duodecim tabularum efficere uoluit, ut quindecim pedes altius rami arboris circumcidantur: et hoc idcirco effectum est, ne umbra arboris uicino praedio noceret.
Then the praetor says: "As for the tree which hangs over from your field onto the field of another, if it is due to you that you do not trim it higher than fifteen feet from the ground, then I forbid force to be used to prevent him from being permitted to trim it in this way and keep the wood for himself." What the praetor says, the Law of the Twelve Tables also wished to effect, namely, that the branches of a tree be trimmed higher than fifteen feet; and this was done in order that the shade of the tree should not harm the neighboring property.
§43.27.1.9Differentia duorum capitum interdicti haec est: si quidem arbor aedibus impendeat, succidi eam praecipitur, si uero agro impendeat, tantum usque ad quindecim pedes a terra coerceri.
The difference between the two chapters of the interdict is this: if indeed the tree hangs over a building, it is ordered to be cut down; but if it hangs over a field, it is to be trimmed only up to fifteen feet from the ground.