Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §48.1.12.pr-48.1.12.1

Hearing of Detainees on Holidays and Presence of Dignitaries

Passage 8125 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

The passage outlines the requirement to involve local dignitaries and advocates when hearing cases of individuals in custody, and details the procedure on holidays regarding the release of the innocent and the postponement of trials for the guilty.

[MODESTINUS libro tertio de poenis. ] §48.1.12.prCustodias auditurus tam clarissimos uiros quam patronos causarum, si omnes in ciuitate prouinciae quam regit agunt, adhibere debet.

[MODESTINUS in his third book on Penalties.] He who is about to hear the cases of those in custody ought to summon both the most distinguished men and the advocates of cases, if they are all residing in the city of the province which he governs.

§48.1.12.1Et feriatis diebus custodias audiri posse rescriptum est, ita ut innoxios dimittat et nocentes, qui duriorem animaduersionem indigent, differat.

And it has been stated in a rescript that persons in custody can be heard even on holidays, in such a way that he may discharge the innocent and postpone the cases of the guilty who require more severe punishment.

Notes

§48.1.12.prcustodias — The accusative plural of the abstract noun custodia (custody, guard) is used here metonymically to refer to the concrete persons in custody (prisoners).
§48.1.12.1duriorem animaduersionem — The verb indigent (from egeo, indigeo) typically governs the genitive or ablative case in classical Latin, but here it takes the accusative (duriorem animaduersionem). This reflects a shift in case-governance common in late and vulgar Latin.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §48.1.12.pr-48.1.12.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:48.1.12.pr-48.1.12.1

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