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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §50.17.134.pr-50.17.134.1

Conditions for Fraudulent Acts and Wrongful Self-Betterment

Passage 9194 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Explains that the non-acquisition of assets by a debtor does not constitute defrauding creditors, and that no one can improve their own condition through their own wrongdoing.

[ULPIANUS libro uicesimo primo ad edictum. ] §50.17.134.prNon fraudantur creditores, cum quid non adquiritur a debitore, sed cum quid de bonis deminuitur.
[ULPIAN, in the twenty-first book on the edict.] Creditors are not defrauded when something is not acquired by a debtor, but when something is diminished from his property.
§50.17.134.1Nemo ex suo delicto meliorem suam condicionem facere potest.
No one can make his own condition better by his own wrongdoing.

Notes

  1. §50.17.134.prquid — A shortened form of the indefinite pronoun aliquid, meaning "something." Although typically used after si, nisi, ne, or num, it is used here after the conjunction cum to refer to an indefinite object.
  2. §50.17.134.prfraudantur — Passive of fraudare ("to defraud"). In the context of Roman law, it refers to the creditors' interests being impaired by the debtor's fraudulent acts (fraus creditorum).
  3. §50.17.134.1Nemo ex suo delicto — The subject Nemo ("no one") negates the entire sentence. Delictum refers to a civil wrong (delict). This expresses a famous legal maxim prohibiting anyone from benefiting or improving their legal position through their own wrongdoing.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §50.17.134.pr-50.17.134.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:50.17.134.pr-50.17.134.1

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