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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §5.1.74.pr-5.1.74.2

Duty of Judgment and Trial of a Deceased Absentee

Passage 955 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This passage discusses the judge's obligation to render judgment and the extension of their jurisdiction by agreement, as well as the invalidity of a trial accepted after the defendant's death and the resulting remedies for the defender and the heir.

[IULIANUS libro quinto digestorum. ] §5.1.74.prDe qua re cognouerit iudex, pronuntiare quoque cogendus erit.
[JULIANUS, in the Fifth Book of the Digests.] On whatever matter the judge has taken cognizance, he shall also be compelled to pronounce judgment.
§5.1.74.1Iudex, qui usque ad certam summam iudicare iussus est, etiam de re maiori iudicare potest, si inter litigatores conueniat.
A judge, who has been ordered to judge up to a certain sum, can also judge on a matter of greater value, if it is agreed between the litigants.
§5.1.74.2Cum absentem defendere uellem, iudicium mortuo iam eo accepi et condemnatus solui: quaesitum est an heres liberaretur, item quae actio mihi aduersus eum competeret.
When I wished to defend an absent person, I accepted the trial when he was already dead, and, having been condemned, I paid: the question was asked whether the heir was released, and likewise what action was available to me against him.
respondi iudicium, quod iam mortuo debitore per defensorem eius accipitur, nullum esse et ideo heredem non liberari: defensorem autem, si ex causa iudicati soluerit, repetere quidem non posse, negotiorum tamen gestorum ei actionem competere aduersus heredem: qui sane exceptione doli mali tueri se possit, si ab actore conueniatur.
I replied that a trial which is accepted through a defender when the debtor is already dead is null, and therefore the heir is not released; but that the defender, although he cannot indeed seek recovery if he paid on the basis of the judgment, nevertheless has an action for business management against the heir, who indeed can defend himself by the plea of fraud if he is sued by the plaintiff.

Notes

  1. §5.1.74.2mortuo iam eo — An ablative absolute construction consisting of the pronoun eo (referring to the absent defendant) as the logical subject and mortuo (perfect participle of mori), indicating the circumstance existing at the time of accepting the trial.
  2. §5.1.74.2repetere — Used in the technical legal sense of seeking recovery or demanding back a payment made without legal obligation (condictio). The direct object (the amount paid) is omitted as it is clear from the context.
  3. §5.1.74.2qui — The relative pronoun qui refers back to the immediate antecedent heredem (the heir). Since the defender has already paid the plaintiff, the heir can block any subsequent lawsuit (conueniatur) by the plaintiff by using the plea of fraud (exceptio doli mali).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §5.1.74.pr-5.1.74.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:5.1.74.pr-5.1.74.2

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