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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §44.3.13.pr-44.3.13.1

Prescription for Fiscal Cases and Public Accounts

Passage 7257 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This passage outlines the general twenty-year prescription period for fiscal matters and sets the time limits for reopening audited public accounts at twenty years for the administrator and ten years for their heir.

[HERMOGENIANUS libro sexto iuris epitomarum. ] §44.3.13.prIn omnibus fisci quaestionibus exceptis causis, in quibus minora tempora seruari specialiter constitutum est, uiginti annorum praescriptio custoditur.
[HERMOGENIANUS, Epitomes of Law, book six] In all questions concerning the fiscus, except for those cases in which it has been specially established that shorter periods are to be observed, a prescription of twenty years is observed.
§44.3.13.1Rei publicae rationes subscriptae et expunctae aduersus eum quidem, qui administrauit, ultra uiginti, aduersus heredem uero ultra decem annos retractari non possunt.
Accounts of a municipality that have been signed and audited cannot be reopened after twenty years against the person who administered them, or after ten years against his heir.

Notes

  1. §44.3.13.prexceptis causis — An ablative absolute construction formed by the ablative plural of the noun causa (causis) and the perfect passive participle of excipere (exceptis), meaning 'cases having been excepted,' i.e., 'except for those cases.' It is modified by the following relative clause in quibus...
  2. §44.3.13.1subscriptae et expunctae — Perfect passive participles modifying the subject rei publicae rationes (feminine plural). Derived from subscribere ('to sign' or 'approve') and expungere ('to strike out from a ledger' or 'audit'), they indicate accounts that have been formally closed and verified.
  3. §44.3.13.1ultra uiginti, aduersus heredem uero ultra decem annos — The noun annos is omitted after ultra uiginti, to be supplied from the subsequent phrase ultra decem annos. Both parallel phrases depend on the shared verb phrase retractari non possunt, establishing a clear contrast: 'beyond twenty [years] against [the administrator], but beyond ten years against the heir.'

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §44.3.13.pr-44.3.13.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:44.3.13.pr-44.3.13.1

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