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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §49.14.15.pr-49.14.15.6

Dismissal of Charges and Penalties for Informer Misconduct

Passage 8536 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This passage from Mauricianus' commentary outlines the judicial procedures for an informer requesting dismissal of charges, and specifies the penalties and fiscal rules concerning non-appearance, subornation, self-reporting, and fraudulent accounts.

[IUNIUS MAURICIANUS libro tertio ad legem Iuliam et Papiam. ] §49.14.15.prSenatus censuit, si delator abolitionem petat, quod errasse se dicat, ut idem iudex cognoscat, an iusta causa abolitionis sit, et si errasse uidebitur, det inprudentiae ueniam, si autem calumniae, hoc ipsum iudicet eaque causa accusatori perinde cedat, ac si causam egisset et prodidisset.
[IUNIUS MAURICIANUS, On the Julian and Papian Law, Book III.] The senate decreed that, if an informer should request a dismissal of the accusation on the grounds that he made a mistake, the same judge should determine whether there is a just cause for dismissal; and if it appears that he made a mistake, the judge should grant pardon for his ignorance; but if it is a case of malicious prosecution, the judge should declare this very fact, and the consequences of that case should fall upon the accuser in the same manner as if he had conducted the case and then betrayed it.
§49.14.15.1Si quis delatorem subiecerit, tantum in aerarium deferat, quantum praemii nomine delator consecuturus fuisset, si uicisset.
If anyone suborns an informer, he must pay into the treasury as much as the informer would have obtained under the name of a reward if he had won.
§49.14.15.2Diuus Hadrianus rescripsit eandem poenam delatorem ferre debere, si citatus ad edictum non responderit, qua teneretur, si causam non probasset.
The deified Hadrian replied by rescript that an informer who, having been summoned by edict, fails to answer, must suffer the same penalty to which he would have been liable if he had failed to prove his case.
§49.14.15.3Senatus Hadriani temporibus censuit, cum quis se ad aerarium detulerit, quod capere non potuerit, ut totum in aerarium colligatur et ex eo pars dimidia sibi secundum beneficium diui Traiani restituatur.
In the time of Hadrian, the senate decreed that, when anyone reports himself to the treasury as having been unable to take, the whole should be collected into the treasury, and half of it should be restored to him in accordance with the beneficence of the deified Trajan.
§49.14.15.4Quod si tribus edictis a praefecto aerario adesse delator iussus uenire noluerit, secundum possessorem sit pronuntiandum: sed ab eo, qui ita adesse iussus respondente possessore non adfuerit, tantum exigendum, quantum apud aerarium ex ea causa quam detulerit remaneret, si professionem eam implesset.
But if an informer, having been ordered by three edicts of the prefect of the treasury to be present, refuses to come, judgment must be given in favor of the possessor; however, from the one who, having been so ordered to be present, fails to appear while the possessor is present to answer, there must be exacted as much as would have remained in the treasury from the case he reported, if he had fulfilled that declaration.
§49.14.15.5Senatus censuit, ut perinde rationes ad aerarium deferat is, a quo tota hereditas fisco euicta est uel uniuersa legata, atque is deferre deberet, a quo pars hereditatis uel legati euicta sit.
The senate decreed that a person from whom an entire inheritance or all legacies have been recovered by the treasury must submit accounts to the treasury in the same manner as a person from whom a part of an inheritance or a legacy has been recovered is required to submit them.
§49.14.15.6Si quis arguetur falsas rationes detulisse, de eo praefectus aerarii cognoscat, quantam fraudem inuenerit, ut tantam pecuniam in aerario iubeat inferri.
If anyone is accused of having submitted false accounts, the prefect of the treasury shall investigate him, so that he may order to be paid into the treasury a sum of money equal to the amount of fraud he has discovered.

Notes

  1. §49.14.15.preaque causa accusatori perinde cedat, ac si causam egisset et prodidisset — The verb cedere (to accrue, result) here indicates that the outcome or effect of the case falls upon the party. perinde ... ac si ("in the same manner as if") introduces a hypothetical comparison, taking the subjunctive pluperfect egisset and prodidisset. prodere refers to the legal betrayal or collusive abandonment of a lawsuit.
  2. §49.14.15.2eandem poenam ... qua teneretur, si causam non probasset — The relative pronoun qua relates to the antecedent eandem poenam. Combined with the passive verb teneretur ("to be bound, liable"), it functions as an ablative of instrument or means. The subjunctive imperfect teneretur and pluperfect probasset constitute the apodosis and protasis of a hypothetical conditional clause.
  3. §49.14.15.4respondente possessore — An ablative absolute construction using the present participle. Meaning "while the possessor is present to answer," it sets the circumstance to contrast with and highlight the informer's failure to appear (non adfuerit).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §49.14.15.pr-49.14.15.6. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:49.14.15.pr-49.14.15.6

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