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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §44.4.11.pr-44.4.11.1

Defense of Fraud Against Procurators and Tutors

Passage 7274 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This section discusses the availability of an exception based on the fraud of a procurator before and after the joinder of issue, its application to tutors, and the general rule that fraud must always be punished.

[NERATIUS libro quarto membranarum. ] §44.4.11.prSi procurator agit, de dolo eius excipi non debet, quia aliena lis est isque rei extraneus, neque alienus dolus nocere alteri debet.
[NERATIUS in the fourth book of Parchments.] If a procurator brings an action, an exception should not be pleaded regarding his fraud, because the lawsuit belongs to another and he is a stranger to the matter, and the fraud of one person ought not to harm another.
si post litem contestatam dolo quid fecerit, an exceptio eo nomine in iudicium obicienda sit, dubitari potest, quia litis contestatione res procuratoris fit eamque suo iam quodammodo nomine exequitur.
If, after the joinder of issue, he has done something with fraudulent intent, it can be doubted whether an exception on that account should be raised in the trial, because by the joinder of issue the matter becomes the procurator's own and he now, in a way, pursues it in his own name.
et placet de procuratoris dolo excipiendum esse.
And it is approved that an exception should be pleaded regarding the procurator's fraud.
idem de tutore, qui pupilli nomine aget, dicendum est.
The same must be said of a tutor who will act in the name of a pupil.
§44.4.11.1In uniuersum autem haec in ea re regula sequenda est, ut dolus omnimodo puniatur, etsi non ali cui, sed ipsi, qui eum admisit, damnosus futurus erit.
Generally, however, this rule must be followed in this matter: that fraud should be punished in every way, even if it will be damaging not to anyone else, but to the very person who committed it.

Notes

  1. §44.4.11.prde dolo eius excipi non debet — An impersonal passive construction of the verb excipere (to plead an exception) in the third person singular, meaning "it ought not to be pleaded concerning his fraud," indicating that the defendant cannot raise an exception based on the procurator's fraud.
  2. §44.4.11.prlitis contestatione — Ablative of means or cause, meaning "by the joinder of issue" (litis contestatio). In Roman law, the joinder of issue was a crucial stage where the dispute between parties was formalized, after which the procurator was treated as the owner of the lawsuit (dominus litis).
  3. §44.4.11.1qui eum admisit — A relative clause where eum is the accusative singular masculine referring to the preceding noun dolus (fraud). The verb admittere here means "to commit" or "to incur (a fault)," and the phrase is thus interpreted as "[the person] who committed it (the fraud)."

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §44.4.11.pr-44.4.11.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:44.4.11.pr-44.4.11.1

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