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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §48.19.20.pr

Non-Inheritance of Penalties and Extinction by Death

Passage 8401 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Paulus explains the principle of positive law that a penalty does not pass to the heirs, providing the reason that penalties are established for correction and therefore cease upon the offender's death.

[PAULUS libro octauo decimo ad Plautium. ] §48.19.20.prSi poena alicui irrogatur, receptum est commenticio iure, ne ad heredes transeat.
[PAULUS, from the eighteenth book on Plautius.] If a penalty is imposed on anyone, it is accepted by positive law that it does not pass to the heirs.
cuius rei illa ratio uidetur, quod poena constituitur in emendationem hominum: quae mortuo eo, in quem constitui uidetur, desinit.
The reason for this seems to be that a penalty is established for the correction of men, which ceases upon the death of the person for whom it is seen to be established.

Notes

  1. §48.19.20.prcommenticio iure — Ablative of means or cause. The adjective 'commenticius' means 'devised', 'invented', or 'fictional', referring here to an acceptance based on positive law or legal fiction (ius civile) rather than on natural reason or necessity.
  2. §48.19.20.prquae mortuo eo, in quem constitui uidetur, desinit — The relative pronoun 'quae' (feminine singular nominative) can agree with either 'emendatio' or 'poena', but contextually it refers to 'poena' (penalty) which ceases (desinit) upon death. 'mortuo eo' is an ablative absolute ('upon the death of the person'), where 'eo' serves as the antecedent of the relative clause 'in quem constitui uidetur' (for whom it is seen to be established).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §48.19.20.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:48.19.20.pr

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