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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §44.2.26.pr-44.2.26.1

Res Judicata in Building Height and Alluvial Island Claims

Passage 7239 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Discusses the application of the exception of res iudicata in claims regarding the right to raise a building's height when different heights are claimed in stages, and in claims for an island formed in a river opposite a tract of land after the land itself has been claimed.

[AFRICANUS libro nono quaestionum. ] §44.2.26.prEgi tecum ius mihi esse aedes meas usque ad decem pedes altius tollere: post ago ius mihi esse usque ad uiginti pedes altius tollere: exceptio rei iudicatae procul dubio obstabit.
[AFRICANUS, on Questions, book nine.] I have brought an action against you claiming that I have the right to raise my house up to ten feet higher; afterwards I bring an action claiming that I have the right to raise it up to twenty feet higher: the exception of res iudicata will undoubtedly stand in the way.
sed et si rursus ita agam ius mihi esse altius ad alios decem pedes tollere, obstabit exceptio, cum aliter superior pars iure haberi non possit, quam si inferior quoque iure habeatur.
But even if I should again bring an action in this way, claiming that I have the right to raise it higher by another ten feet, the exception will stand in the way, since the upper part cannot be held by right otherwise than if the lower part also is held by right.
§44.2.26.1Item si fundo petito postea insula, quae e regione eius in flumine nata erit, petatur, exceptio obstatura est.
Likewise, if after a tract of land has been claimed, an island which has arisen in the river opposite to it is afterwards claimed, the exception will stand in the way.

Notes

  1. 44.2.26.praliter ... quam si — A conditional structure meaning "not otherwise than if...", showing that the right to the upper part (superior pars) is legally and logically dependent upon the right to the lower part (inferior).
  2. 44.2.26.1fundo petito — An ablative absolute construction consisting of the noun fundo and the participle petito. It expresses a temporal condition ("after a tract of land has been claimed"), working in tandem with the subsequent adverb postea.
  3. 44.2.26.1e regione eius — The prepositional phrase e regione (opposite to) taking the genitive eius. The pronoun eius is a neuter singular genitive referring back to the preceding fundo.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §44.2.26.pr-44.2.26.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:44.2.26.pr-44.2.26.1

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