Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §5.3.55.pr

Restitution of Lex Aquilia Damages by a Good Faith Possessor

Passage 1053 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Rules that, upon the eviction of an inheritance, a good faith possessor must restore the double value rather than the single value of what was recovered under the Lex Aquilia, as they are not permitted to profit from the inheritance.

[IDEM libro sexagesimo digestorum. ] §5.3.55.prEuicta hereditate bonae fidei possessor quod lege Aquilia exegisset non simplum, sed duplum restituet: lucrum enim ex eo, quod propter hereditatem acceperit, facere non debet.
[THE SAME in his sixtieth book of the Digest.] When an inheritance has been evicted, a possessor in good faith must restore not the single, but the double value of what he had recovered under the Lex Aquilia; for he ought not to make a profit from that which he received by reason of the inheritance.

Notes

  1. §5.3.55.prEuicta hereditate — An ablative absolute construction consisting of a noun and a perfect passive participle. In a legal context, "evincere" (to evict) means that the true owner or heir recovers the property or inheritance from the possessor through judicial proceedings.
  2. §5.3.55.prexegisset — The subjunctive pluperfect in the relative clause "quod... exegisset". Although referring to a past fact of actual recovery, the subjunctive is used here because it is framed retroactively from the standpoint of the subsequent petition for inheritance, representing a hypothetical or generalized occurrence.
  3. §5.3.55.prnon simplum, sed duplum — Accusatives functioning as the object of "restituet". Under the Lex Aquilia (delictual law), a double penalty (duplum) could be recovered under certain conditions. If a good faith possessor had recovered this double amount from a third party, they must restore to the true heir the actual double amount received, rather than just the single value (simplum), in order to prevent them from making a profit (lucrum) from the inheritance.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §5.3.55.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:5.3.55.pr

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.