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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §49.14.4.pr

Deemed Confession by Reaching Settlement with an Informer

Passage 8525 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

It establishes the legal rule that in cases concerning the treasury, any defendant who reaches an agreement with an informer and pays them, regardless of how small the amount, is deemed to have confessed to their liability.

[ULPIANUS libro sexto ad edictum. ] §49.14.4.prIn fisci causis pacti cum delatoribus pro confessis habentur, si modo pretium uel modicum dederunt.
[ULPIANUS libro sexto ad edictum.] In cases concerning the treasury, those who have made an agreement with informers are regarded as having confessed, provided that they have given a price, even if a modest one.

Notes

  1. §49.14.4.prpacti — Adjectival or substantive use of the perfect participle. Here `pacti` is the perfect participle (masculine plural nominative) of `paciscor` (to make an agreement/compromise) used substantively to mean "those who have made an agreement (with informers)." Interpreting it as an ellipsis of the verb `pacti [sunt]` (third-person plural perfect) would disrupt the syntax of the main verb `habentur`, so it must be taken as a substantive participle acting as the subject.
  2. §49.14.4.prpro confessis — A legal idiom combining the preposition `pro` (as, in the capacity of) with the plural ablative of `confessus` (one who has confessed/admitted), the perfect participle of `confiteor` (to confess). The phrase `haberi pro confessis` means "to be regarded as having confessed/admitted guilt."
  3. §49.14.4.prsi modo — A conditional conjunctional phrase expressing restriction or proviso, meaning "provided that" or "if only." It indicates that the mere fact of having paid a settlement (even if a small one) to the informer is the sufficient condition for being deemed to have confessed.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §49.14.4.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:49.14.4.pr

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