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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §5.1.44.pr-5.1.44.1

Absence of Co-guardians and Slave Appearing after Action

Passage 925 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

The text discusses that a judge's duty is not hindered even if some co-defendant guardians are absent on public business, and states that a debtor must be acquitted when the slave on whose behalf a procurator acted appears, without prejudice to the owner's future action.

[IDEM libro secundo responsorum. ] §5.1.44.prNon idcirco iudicis officium impeditur, quod quidam ex tutoribus post litem aduersus omnes inchoatam rei publicae causa abesse coeperunt, cum praesentium et eorum qui non defenduntur administratio discerni et aestimari possit.
[THE SAME, Opinions, Book II.] The office of the judge is not hindered for the reason that some of the guardians have begun to be absent on public business after a lawsuit was commenced against all of them, since the administration of those present and of those who are not defended can be distinguished and assessed.
§5.1.44.1Cum postea seruus apparuit, cuius nomine per procuratorem fuerat actum, absolui debitorem oportet: quae res domino quandoque propriam litem inferenti non obstabit.
When the slave subsequently appeared, on whose behalf action had been brought through a procurator, the debtor ought to be acquitted; and this fact will not stand in the way of the owner if he at some time brings his own lawsuit.

Notes

  1. 5.1.44.prNon idcirco ... quod — The correlative construction non idcirco... quod expresses the denial of a reason ('not for this reason... that...'). It indicates that the absence of some guardians on public business is not a sufficient reason to hinder the judge's office.
  2. 5.1.44.prcum ... possit — The cum clause with the present subjunctive possit acts as a causal clause ('since... can'), explaining why the judge's duty is not impeded.
  3. 5.1.44.1cuius nomine per procuratorem fuerat actum — The relative pronoun cuius is genitive referring back to seruus. fuerat actum is the pluperfect passive third-person singular neuter used impersonally ('action had been brought').
  4. 5.1.44.1domino quandoque propriam litem inferenti — domino is a dative governed by the verb obstabit (which takes the dative), and is modified by the present participle inferenti (which takes the accusative object propriam litem).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §5.1.44.pr-5.1.44.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:5.1.44.pr-5.1.44.1

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