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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §5.1.79.pr-5.1.79.1

Reimbursement of Costs and Governor's Guidance to Judges

Passage 960 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Ulpian states that those who rashly summon opponents to court must refund travel and litigation expenses, and that provincial governors should advise judges on legal doubts but leave factual judgments to the judges' own consciences.

[ULPIANUS libro quinto de officio proconsulis. ] §5.1.79.prEum, quem temere aduersarium suum in iudicium uocasse constitit, uiatica litisque sumptus aduersario suo reddere oportebit.
[ULPIANUS, in the Fifth Book on the Office of the Proconsul.] It will be necessary for him, who it is established has rashly summoned his adversary to court, to refund the travel expenses and costs of the lawsuit to his adversary.
§5.1.79.1Iudicibus de iure dubitantibus praesides respondere solent: de facto consulentibus non debent praesides consilium impertire, uerum iubere eos prout religio suggerit sententiam proferre: haec enim res nonnumquam infamat et materiam gratiae uel ambitionis tribuit.
Provincial governors are accustomed to answer judges who have doubts concerning the law; but they ought not to impart advice to those consulting them on a question of fact, but rather to order them to pronounce judgment as their conscience dictates; for this practice sometimes brings disrepute and provides material for favoritism or self-seeking.

Notes

  1. §5.1.79.prquem ... constitit — The impersonal verb constitit ('it is established') takes the accusative and infinitive clause quem ... uocasse as its subject. The relative pronoun quem refers back to eum and acts as the subject accusative of the infinitive uocasse.
  2. §5.1.79.1de facto consulentibus — This phrase stands in contrast to Iudicibus de iure dubitantibus in the preceding clause, referring to the judges who consult (consulere) on a matter of fact. The dative plural participle consulentibus serves as the indirect object of the verb phrase consilium impertire ('to impart advice').
  3. §5.1.79.1iubere eos — The infinitive iubere depends on the modal verb debent from the previous clause (the governors 'ought not... but rather [ought] to order'). The pronoun eos is the accusative object of iubere (and the subject of proferre), referring back to the judges (iudices).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §5.1.79.pr-5.1.79.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:5.1.79.pr-5.1.79.1

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