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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §48.3.1.pr

Criteria for Determining Custody of Defendants

Passage 8150 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

It regulates that the proconsul, in deciding the method of custody for defendants, should consider the nature of the crime, as well as the defendant's status, wealth, and prospect of innocence.

[ULPIANUS libro secundo de officio proconsulis. ] §48.3.1.prDe custodia reorum proconsul aestimare solet, utrum in carcerem recipienda sit persona an militi tradenda uel fideiussoribus committenda uel etiam sibi.
[ULPIANUS, On the Office of Proconsul, Book 2] Concerning the custody of defendants, the proconsul is accustomed to decide whether a person should be received into prison, or delivered to a soldier, or committed to sureties, or even to himself.
hoc autem uel pro criminis quod obicitur qualitate uel propter honorem aut propter amplissimas facultates uel pro innocentia personae uel pro dignitate eius qui accusatur facere solet.
Moreover, he is accustomed to do this either according to the nature of the crime charged, or on account of his honor, or on account of his very ample means, or according to the innocence of the person, or according to the dignity of the one who is accused.

Notes

  1. §48.3.1.prsibi — On the referent of the reflexive pronoun sibi. Grammatically, it could refer to the subject of the main clause, the proconsul (keeping the defendant under his own direct custody). However, in legal context, it is usually understood to refer to the logical subject of the gerundive clause, persona (the defendant themselves), meaning "self-custody" or release on one's own recognizance (libera custodia).
  2. §48.3.1.prpro criminis quod obicitur qualitate — The preposition pro ("according to") takes qualitate as its object, while the genitive criminis modifies qualitate ("according to the quality of the crime"). The relative clause quod obicitur modifies criminis, with obicitur in the passive meaning "which is charged/objected against the defendant."

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §48.3.1.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:48.3.1.pr

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