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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §5.2.10.pr-5.2.10.1

Disagreement of Judges and Legatees Claim

Passage 974 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

On the principle that when judges disagree, the opinion upholding the testament should be followed, and on the condition under which a legatee may challenge an inofficious testament.

[MARCELLUS libro tertio digestorum. ] §5.2.10.prSi pars iudicantium de inofficioso testamento contra testamentum, pars secundum id sententiam dederit, quod interdum fieri solet, humanius erit sequi eius partis sententiam quae secundum testamentum spectauit: nisi si aperte iudices inique secundum scriptum heredem pronuntiasse apparebit.
[MARCELLUS in the third book of the Digests.] If, in a case concerning an inofficious testament, some of the judges render a decision against the testament and others in favor of it, which sometimes happens to be the case, it will be more humane to follow the opinion of that part which favored the testament; unless it shall clearly appear that the judges have unjustly decided in favor of the written heir.
§5.2.10.1Illud notissimum est eum qui legatum perceperit non recte de inofficioso testamento dicturum, nisi id totum alii administrauit.
It is very well known that a person who has accepted a legacy cannot rightly bring an action regarding an inofficious testament, unless he has administered the whole of it to someone else.

Notes

  1. §5.2.10.prpars... pars... dederit — The verb `dederit` (and its object `sententiam`) is expressed only in the second clause `pars... dederit` and must be supplied in the first clause `pars... contra testamentum`. The pronoun `id` in `secundum id` is a neuter accusative referring back to `testamentum`.
  2. §5.2.10.1non recte de inofficioso testamento dicturum — This is an accusative with infinitive (A.C.I.) construction using the future active participle `dicturum` with `esse` omitted, depending on the main clause `Illud notissimum est`. Its logical subject is `eum`. The phrase `de inofficioso testamento dicere` is a legal idiom meaning "to plead or bring an action regarding an inofficious testament."

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §5.2.10.pr-5.2.10.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:5.2.10.pr-5.2.10.1

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