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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §50.16.126.pr

Limiting Clauses and Seller Liability in Land Sales

Passage 8940 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

In a transaction of land, if a boilerplate clause guaranteeing full ownership ('optimus maximus') and a limiting clause guaranteeing only that the owner has not impaired the rights coexist, the latter limiting clause prevails and restricts the seller's liability.

[IDEM libro sexto epistularum. ] §50.16.126.prSi, cum fundum tibi darem, legem ita dixi 'uti optimus maximusque esset' et adieci 'ius fundi deterius factum non esse per dominum, praestabitur', amplius eo praestabitur nihil, etiamsi prior pars, qua scriptum est 'ut optimus maximusque sit' liberum esse significat eoque, si posterior pars adiecta non esset, liberum praestare deberem.
[THE SAME, from the sixth book of Epistles.] If, when I was conveying a tract of land to you, I declared the term thus: 'that it should be in the best and fullest condition,' and added: 'it shall be guaranteed that the right of the land has not been made worse by the owner,' nothing more than that shall be guaranteed; even though the former part, in which it is written 'that it be in the best and fullest condition,' signifies that it is free from encumbrances, and therefore, if the latter part had not been added, I should have had to guarantee it free.
tamen inferiore parte satis me liberatum puto, quod ad iura attinet, ne quid aliud praestare debeam, quam ius fundi per dominum deterius factum non esse.
Nevertheless, by the latter part, so far as rights are concerned, I consider myself sufficiently released from being obliged to guarantee anything else than that the right of the land has not been made worse by the owner.

Notes

  1. 50.16.126.prlegem ita dixi — Here, 'lex' refers to a private contract term or condition declared by the parties in a transaction (lex contractus).
  2. 50.16.126.pruti optimus maximusque esset — A traditional legal formula in Roman property law guaranteeing that the transferred land is free from any encumbrances (such as servitudes).
  3. 50.16.126.prne quid aliud praestare debeam — 'ne' introduces a clause of purpose or consequence, qualifying the effect of 'liberatum' (sufficiently released so as not to be obliged to guarantee...).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §50.16.126.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:50.16.126.pr

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