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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §50.1.13.pr

Order of Liability When One Magistrate Acts Alone

Passage 8656 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

The passage discusses the order of liability among various parties (the active magistrate, his guarantors, the nominator, and the inactive magistrate) when only one magistrate has administered the public affairs and full recovery is impossible.

[PAPINIANUS libro secundo quaestionum. ] §50.1.13.prQuid ergo, si alter ex magistratibus toto anno afuerit aut forte praesens per contumaciam siue ignauiam uel aegram ualitudinem rei publicae negotia non gesserit et omnia collega solus administrauerit, nec tamen tota res ab eo seruari possit? talis ordo dabitur, ut in primis qui rei publicae negotia gessit et qui pro eo cauerunt in solidum conueniantur, mox peractis omnibus periculum adgnoscat qui non idoneum nominauit, postremo alter ex magistratibus, qui rei publicae negotiis se non immiscuit.
[PAPINIAN, Questions, Book II] What then, if one of the magistrates has been absent for the whole year, or perhaps, though present, has not conducted the public business due to contumacy, negligence, or ill health, and his colleague alone has administered everything, but the entire amount cannot be recovered from him? The following order shall be observed: first, he who conducted the public business and those who gave security for him shall be sued for the whole amount; next, when all these proceedings are completed, he who nominated an unfit person shall bear the risk; lastly, the other magistrate, who did not involve himself in the public business, shall be sued.
nec iuste qui nominauit uniuersi periculum recusabit, cum scire deberet eum, qui nominaretur, indiuiduum officium et commune periculum suscepturum.
Nor will he who nominated justly refuse the risk of the whole, since he ought to have known that the person nominated would undertake an indivisible office and a common risk.
nam et cum duo gesserunt et ab altero seruari quod debetur non potest, qui collegam nominauit, in uniuersum conuenitur.
For even when two have conducted the business and what is owed cannot be recovered from one of them, he who nominated his colleague is sued for the whole.

Notes

  1. §50.1.13.prQuid ergo, si — The phrase "Quid ergo, si..." is a rhetorical question typical of juristic discussions, meaning "What then [happens], if...", where the main clause (e.g., "fiet") is omitted.
  2. §50.1.13.pralter ex magistratibus — Contextually, a verb (such as the preceding "conueniatur" or "periculum adgnoscat") is omitted after this noun phrase. It is natural to supply a passive meaning, such as "be sued", as the final step in the order of liability.
  3. §50.1.13.preum, qui nominaretur, indiuiduum officium et commune periculum suscepturum — This is an accusative with infinitive construction (with "esse" omitted from the future infinitive "suscepturum esse") acting as the object of "scire deberet" (he ought to have known). "eum", which is the antecedent of the relative clause "qui nominaretur", serves as the subject of the infinitive.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §50.1.13.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:50.1.13.pr

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