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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §48.19.19.pr

Defense and Trial of Slaves Undefended by Masters

Passage 8400 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Dictates that even if slaves are not defended by their masters, they are not immediately punished, but may be defended by others, and the judge must investigate their innocence.

[IDEM libro quinquagensimo septimo ad edictum. ] §48.19.19.prSi non defendantur serui a dominis, non utique statim ad supplicium deducuntur, sed permittetur eis defendi uel ab alio, et qui cognoscit, debebit de innocentia eorum quaerere.
[THE SAME, from the fifty-seventh book on the Edict.] If slaves should not be defended by their masters, they are not by any means immediately led to punishment, but it will be permitted for them to be defended even by another, and he who conducts the inquiry must inquire into their innocence.

Notes

  1. §48.19.19.prdefendantur — The present subjunctive defendantur in the conditional clause is paired with the indicative present deducuntur and future permittetur in the main clauses. This mixed construction is common in juristic texts, linking a hypothetical scenario to established legal principles and subsequent procedures.
  2. §48.19.19.prqui cognoscit — The antecedent of the relative pronoun qui is omitted, meaning 'he who investigates/hears the case'—referring to the magistrate or judge. The verb cognoscere is a technical term used for conducting a formal judicial inquiry (cognitio).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §48.19.19.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:48.19.19.pr

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