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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §45.1.139.pr

Defense by Co-Heirs under a Stipulation for Double Value

Passage 7487 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This text explains that in a claim based on a stipulation for double value, all heirs of the seller must jointly defend the suit, and details their liability in proportion to their hereditary shares if any of them fails to appear.

[IDEM libro sexto stipulationum. ] §45.1.139.prCum ex causa duplae stipulationis aliquid intendimus, uenditoris heredes in solidum omnes conueniendi sunt omnesque debent subsistere, et quolibet eorum defugiente ceteris subsistere nihil prodest, quia in solidum defendenda est uenditio, cuius indiuisa natura est.
[The same, Stipulations, Book 6.] When we claim something on the basis of a stipulation for double value, all the heirs of the seller must be sued for the whole, and all of them must stand trial; and if any one of them declines to do so, it is of no avail for the others to stand trial, because the sale, the nature of which is indivisible, must be defended as a whole.
sed cum uno defugiente omnes defugisse uideantur ideoque omnes teneantur, unicuique pro parte hereditaria praestatio incumbit.
But, although when one declines, all are deemed to have declined and therefore all are held liable, the liability for performance rests upon each one in proportion to his hereditary share.

Notes

  1. §45.1.139.prsubsistere — The verb subsistere generally means "to stand still" or "to hold out," but in a legal context, especially regarding the seller's liability for eviction, it means "to stand trial," "to appear in court to defend," or "to maintain the defense."
  2. §45.1.139.prceteris subsistere nihil prodest — ceteris is the dative governed by the impersonal construction nihil prodest ("it profits nothing"), and the infinitive subsistere functions as the subject of the clause. Thus, it translates to "it is of no avail for the others to stand trial."

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §45.1.139.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:45.1.139.pr

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