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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §50.16.246.pr-50.16.246.1

Definitions of to Exhibit, to Be Present, and to Restore

Passage 9060 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Pomponius, quoting Labeo, discusses the precise definitions and scopes of the legal terms "to exhibit" and "to be present," and clarifies the legal interpretation of "to restore."

[IDEM libro sexto decimo epistularum. ] §50.16.246.prApud Labeonem pithanon ita scriptum est: exhibet, qui praestat eius de quo agitur praesentiam. nam etiam qui sistit, praestat eius de quo agitur praesentiam, nec tamen eum exhibet: et qui mutum aut furiosum aut infantem exhibet, non potest uideri eius praestare praesentiam: nemo enim ex eo genere praesens satis apte appellari potest. §50.16.246.1Restituit non tantum, qui solum corpus, sed etiam qui omnem rem condicionemque reddita causa praestet: et tota restitutio iuris est interpretatio.
[From the same author's sixteenth book of Letters.] In Labeo's "Plausibilities", it is written as follows: "He exhibits who provides the presence of the person in question." For he also who produces a person provides the presence of the person in question, and yet he does not exhibit him; and he who exhibits a mute person, a lunatic, or an infant cannot be deemed to provide their presence; for no one of that class can be properly called "present." He restores who provides not only the physical object itself, but also every accessory and condition, with the cause returned; and the whole of restoration is an interpretation of law.

Notes

  1. 50.16.246.prexhibet, qui praestat eius de quo agitur praesentiam — This sentence is inverted; the subject of the main clause is the entire relative clause 'qui praestat...', and 'exhibet' is the verb of the main clause. 'Eius' is a genitive modifying 'praesentiam' and is further modified by the relative clause 'de quo agitur'.
  2. 50.16.246.prnemo enim ex eo genere praesens satis apte appellari potest — The demonstrative 'eo' in the prepositional phrase 'ex eo genere' (from that class) refers to the previously mentioned 'mutum aut furiosum aut infantem' (a mute, a lunatic, or an infant). It indicates the legal principle that although physically present, they cannot be called 'present' (praesens) in a legal sense due to their lack of legal capacity.
  3. 50.16.246.1reddita causa — This is an ablative absolute construction. Here, 'causa' is not a mere 'reason' but a technical legal term referring to the 'legal status' or 'fruits and profits' associated with the object to be restored, meaning these are to be returned along with the object.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §50.16.246.pr-50.16.246.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:50.16.246.pr-50.16.246.1

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