Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §43.29.4.pr-43.29.4.3

Bad Faith Detention and Inapplicability to Debtors

Passage 7179 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This chunk discusses the obligation to produce a free person held in bad faith despite their ignorance of status, the exemption of good-faith purchasers, the urgency of the production, and the denial of this interdict to creditors seeking the production of debtors.

[UENULEIUS libro quarto interdictorum. ] §43.29.4.prSi quis liberum hominem ignorantem suum statum retineat, tamen si dolo malo retinet, cogitur exhibere.
[VENULEIUS, On Interdicts, book four.] If anyone detains a free person who is ignorant of his own status, nevertheless, if he detains him with malicious intent, he is compelled to produce him.
§43.29.4.1Trebatius quoque ait non teneri eum, qui liberum hominem pro seruo bona fide emerit et retineat.
Trebatius also says that he is not held who has in good faith bought a free person as a slave and detains him.
§43.29.4.2Nullo tempore dolo malo retineri homo liber debet, adeo ut quidam putauerint nec modicum tempus ad eum exhibendum dandum, quoniam praeteriti facti poena praestanda est.
At no time ought a free person to be detained with malicious intent, so much so that some have thought that not even a brief period is to be given for producing him, since the penalty for the past conduct must be paid.
§43.29.4.3Creditori non competit interdictum, ut debitor exhiberetur: nec enim debitorem latitantem exhibere quisquam cogitur, sed in bona eius ex edicto praetoris itur.
The interdict is not available to a creditor that a debtor be produced; for no one is compelled to produce a hiding debtor, but action is taken against his property according to the praetor's edict.

Notes

  1. 43.29.4.2ad eum exhibendum dandum — The phrase 'ad eum exhibendum' is a construction of the preposition 'ad' with a accusative gerundive, expressing purpose ('for producing him'). 'dandum' (with 'esse' understood) is a gerundive functioning as the predicate adjective in the accusative with infinitive (A.C.I.) construction introduced by 'putauerint', where 'nec modicum tempus' is the subject.
  2. 43.29.4.3ut debitor exhiberetur — The clause 'ut debitor exhiberetur' contains the imperfect subjunctive 'exhiberetur' and explains the substance of the 'interdictum' ('that the debtor be produced'). Although the main verb 'competit' is in the present, the imperfect subjunctive is used under the sequence of tenses (consecutio temporum) because 'competit' functions as a historical present or refers to an ongoing legal situation originating in past decisions.
  3. 43.29.4.3itur — An impersonal passive of the intransitive verb 'ire' ('to go'), meaning literally 'it is gone' or 'action is taken'. Since 'in bona ire' denotes the legal step of entering into possession of a debtor's property, 'itur' here signifies 'action is taken against his property' or 'possession is entered into'.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §43.29.4.pr-43.29.4.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:43.29.4.pr-43.29.4.3

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.