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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §50.17.142.pr

Silence as Neither Consent nor Denial

Passage 9202 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

It states the legal principle that a person who remains silent does not necessarily consent, but at the same time is not denying either.

[IDEM libro quinquagensimo sexto ad edictum. ] §50.17.142.prQui tacet, non utique fatetur: sed tamen uerum est eum non negare.
[THE SAME, in the fifty-sixth book on the edict.] He who is silent does not indeed confess; yet, nevertheless, it is true that he does not deny.

Notes

  1. 50.17.142.prnon utique — The adverb `utique` (by all means, certainly) combined with the negative `non` expresses partial negation ("not necessarily" or "not by any means").
  2. 50.17.142.preum non negare — An accusative-with-infinitive construction serving as the subject of the impersonal expression `uerum est` (it is true). The accusative `eum` functions as the subject of the infinitive `negare`.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §50.17.142.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:50.17.142.pr

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