Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §50.17.118.pr

Inability of an Enslaved Person to Acquire by Usucapion

Passage 9178 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Ulpian explains that a person in servitude cannot acquire property by usucapion, because as an object of possession himself, he cannot be deemed to possess.

[ULPIANUS libro duodecimo ad edictum. ] §50.17.118.prQui in seruitute est, usucapere non potest: nam cum possideatur, possidere non uidetur.
[Ulpian, in the twelfth book on the edict.] He who is in servitude cannot acquire by usucapion; for since he himself is possessed, he is not deemed to possess.

Notes

  1. §50.17.118.prcum possideatur — The conjunction cum expresses cause ('since', 'because') and is constructed with the present subjunctive passive possideatur. Its subject is the previously mentioned qui in seruitute est (the person in servitude), referring to the fact that a slave is an object of possession by another as a res.
  2. §50.17.118.prpossidere non uidetur — Although uidetur literally means 'seems' or 'appears', in legal contexts it functions normatively as 'is deemed' or 'is held to be'. Here it states that a slave, who is himself an object of possession, cannot logically or legally be recognized as a subject of possession (possidere).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §50.17.118.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:50.17.118.pr

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