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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §44.2.21.pr-44.2.21.4

Changes in Claimed Property and Res Judicata

Passage 7234 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Discusses the applicability of the exception of res iudicata in claims regarding mistaken legacies, flocks, specific items, land ownership versus usufruct, and actions against a slave's surety.

[IDEM libro trigesimo primo ad Sabinum. ] §44.2.21.prSi, cum argentum mihi testamento legatum esset, egerim cum herede et postea codicillis prolatis uestem quoque mihi legatam esse appareat, non est deducta in superius iudicium uestis causa, quia neque litigatores neque iudex de alio quam de argento actum intellegant.
[THE SAME, on Sabinus, book thirty-one.] If, when silver had been bequeathed to me by will, I sued the heir, and afterward, upon the production of codicils, it appears that clothing also was bequeathed to me, the cause of the clothing was not brought into the prior trial, because neither the litigants nor the judge understood that anything other than silver was being disputed.
§44.2.21.1Si petiero gregem et uel aucto uel minuto numero gregis iterum eundem gregem petam, obstabit mihi exceptio.
If I claim a flock, and, whether the number of the flock has been increased or diminished, I claim the same flock again, the exception will stand in my way.
sed et si speciale corpus ex grege petam, si adfuit in eo grege, puto obstaturam exceptionem.
But even if I claim a specific animal from the flock, if it was present in that flock, I think the exception will stand in my way.
§44.2.21.2Si Stichum et Pamphilum tuos esse petieris et absoluto aduersario Stichum tuum esse petas ab eodem, exceptionem obstare tibi constat.
If you claim that Stichus and Pamphilus are yours, and after the adversary has been acquitted, you claim from the same person that Stichus is yours, it is established that the exception stands in your way.
§44.2.21.3Si fundum meum esse petiero, deinde postea usum fructum eiusdem fundi petam, qui ex illa causa, ex qua fundus meus erat, meus sit: exceptio mihi obstabit, quia qui fundum habet, usum fructum suum uindicare non potest.
If I claim that a tract of land is mine, and then afterward I claim the usufruct of the same land, which is mine from the same cause from which the land was mine: the exception will stand in my way, because he who has the land cannot vindicate his own usufruct.
sed si usum fructum, cum meus esset, uindicaui, deinde proprietatem nanctus iterum de usu fructu experiar, potest dici alia res esse, quoniam postquam nanctus sum proprietatem fundi, desinit meus esse prior usus fructus et iure proprietatis quasi ex noua causa rursus meus esse coepit.
But if I vindicated the usufruct when it was mine, and then, having acquired the ownership, I sue again regarding the usufruct, it can be said to be a different matter, since after I acquired the ownership of the land, my prior usufruct ceases to be mine and, by right of ownership, began to be mine again as if from a new cause.
§44.2.21.4Si pro seruo meo fideiusseris et mecum de peculio actum sit, si postea tecum eo nomine agatur, excipiendum est de re iudicata.
If you have become surety for my slave and an action concerning the peculium has been brought against me, if afterward an action is brought against you on that account, the exception of res iudicata must be pleaded.

Notes

  1. §44.2.21.practum — An impersonal perfect passive infinitive, actum esse, with the omission of esse. Combined with de alio quam de argento, it means 'that there had been a dispute about something other than silver', forming an infinitive clause as the object of intellegant without an accusative subject.
  2. §44.2.21.3qui ex illa causa, ex qua fundus meus erat, meus sit — The relative pronoun qui refers back to the accusative usum fructum, but stands in the nominative as the subject of meus sit within the relative clause. The phrase ex illa causa, ex qua... expresses 'from that same legal cause from which the land was mine'.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §44.2.21.pr-44.2.21.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:44.2.21.pr-44.2.21.4

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