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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §48.1.5.pr-48.1.5.2

Restrictions on Accusations by the Accused and Condemned

Passage 8118 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

On the obligation of an accused person to clear themselves before bringing charges, the restrictions on initiating new accusations after condemnation, and the permitted exceptions.

[ULPIANUS libro octauo disputationum. ] §48.1.5.prIs qui reus factus est purgare se debet nec ante potest accusare, quam fuerit excusatus: constitutionibus enim obseruatur, ut non relatione criminum, sed innocentia reus purgetur.
[ULPIAN in the eighth book of disputations.] He who has been made a defendant must clear himself, and cannot bring an accusation before he has been acquitted; for it is observed in the imperial constitutions that a defendant should be cleared not by a counter-charge of crimes, but by his own innocence.
§48.1.5.1Illud incertum est, utrum ita demum accusare potest, si fuerit liberatus, an et si poenam subierit: est enim constitutum ab imperatore nostro et diuo patre eius post damnationem accusationem quem inchoare non posse.
It is uncertain whether he can only bring an accusation if he has been acquitted, or also if he has undergone punishment; for it has been decreed by our Emperor and his deified father that no one can initiate an accusation after condemnation.
sed hoc puto ad eos demum pertinere, qui uel ciuitatem uel libertatem amiserunt.
But I think this applies only to those who have lost either their citizenship or their liberty.
§48.1.5.2Inchoatas plane delationes ante damnationem implere eis et post damnationem permissum est.
Clearly, they are permitted to complete even after condemnation those accusations which had been initiated before condemnation.

Notes

  1. §48.1.5.prrelatione criminum — Amitis of the noun relatio, referring to counter-charging or recrimination. It means that an accused person cannot clear their own name simply by bringing a counter-accusation of other crimes against their accuser, but must do so through their own innocence (innocentia).
  2. §48.1.5.1quem — Accusative singular masculine of the indefinite pronoun quis. In combination with the negative non, it functions as 'no one' (neminem), serving as the subject accusative of the infinitive inchoare in the clause 'post damnationem accusationem quem inchoare non posse' (that no one can initiate an accusation after condemnation).
  3. §48.1.5.2Inchoatas plane delationes — Inchoatas is the accusative feminine plural of the perfect participle inchoatus (begun/initiated), modifying delationes (accusations/denunciations). This phrase serves as the object of the infinitive implere (to complete), emphasizing that these are accusations that had already been initiated before the condemnation.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §48.1.5.pr-48.1.5.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:48.1.5.pr-48.1.5.2

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