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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §44.3.10.pr-44.3.10.1

Prescription for Reporting Vacant Property and Collusion

Passage 7254 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Papinian discusses the commencement of the four-year prescription period for reporting vacant property and the impact of a prior informer's collusion on a second informer.

[PAPINIANUS libro tertio decimo responsorum. ] §44.3.10.prIntra quattuor annos uacantium bonorum delator facta denuntiatione destitit: post quattuor annos secundo delatori uenienti prior nuntiatio, quo minus praescriptione temporis summoueatur, non proderit, nisi prioris praeuaricatio detegetur: quo declarato praescriptio, sed et negotii quaestio peremetur.
[PAPINIANUS, Opinions, book thirteen] If, within four years, an informer of vacant property desists after having made a report, the prior report will not benefit a second informer coming after four years, to prevent him from being barred by the prescription of time, unless the collusion of the prior informer is detected; once this is disclosed, the prescription, and indeed the inquiry into the matter, will be extinguished.
§44.3.10.1Quadriennii tempus, quod bonis uacantibus nuntiandis praescriptum est, non ex opinione hominum, sed de substantia uacantium bonorum dinumeratur.
The four-year period prescribed for reporting vacant property is calculated not from the subjective belief of men, but from the actual status of the vacant property.
quattuor autem anni post irritum testamentum factum et intestati possessionem ab omnibus repudiatam, qui gradatim petere potuerunt, uel temporis finem, quod singulis praestitutum est, computabuntur.
However, the four years will be computed after the testament has become invalid and the possession on intestacy has been rejected by all who could have claimed it in succession, or after the end of the time predetermined for each of them.

Notes

  1. §44.3.10.prquo minus praescriptione temporis summoueatur — The conjunction quo minus introduces a negative clause of purpose or prevention containing the subjunctive summoueatur, modifying non proderit. It expresses the meaning 'to prevent him from being barred by the prescription of time.'
  2. §44.3.10.prquo declarato — An ablative absolute construction using the relative pronoun quo in the neuter singular. Its logical antecedent is the prioris praeuaricatio (collusion of the prior informer) mentioned in the preceding clause, meaning 'once this has been established or disclosed.'
  3. §44.3.10.1bonis uacantibus nuntiandis — A dative of purpose or fitness featuring a gerundive construction, where the gerundive nuntiandis agrees in gender, number, and case with bonis uacantibus. It expresses the purpose 'for reporting vacant property.'
  4. §44.3.10.1post irritum testamentum factum — A dominant participle construction (often called the 'Ab Urbe Condita' type) where the preposition post governs the noun-participle pair. It means 'after the testament has become invalid' rather than 'after the invalid testament.' The subsequent phrase post intestati possessionem ab omnibus repudiatam follows the same structure.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §44.3.10.pr-44.3.10.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:44.3.10.pr-44.3.10.1

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