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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §50.17.153.pr

Extinction of Rights and Obligations by Contrary Act

Passage 9213 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Paulus presents the general principle that obligations are released and rights are lost through the reversal of the process of their acquisition, and argues that similarly, possession is acquired and lost only when both mental and physical elements are reversed.

[PAULUS libro sexagensimo quinto ad edictum. ] §50.17.153.prFere quibuscumque modis obligamur, isdem in contrarium actis liberamur, cum quibus modis adquirimus, isdem in contrarium actis amittimus.
[PAULUS, in the sixty-fifth book on the edict.] Generally, by whatever modes we are bound, we are released by the same being executed in the opposite way, since by whatever modes we acquire, we lose by the same being executed in the opposite way.
ut igitur nulla possessio adquiri nisi animo et corpore potest, ita nulla amittitur, nisi in qua utrumque in contrarium actum est.
Therefore, just as no possession can be acquired except by intention and physical body, so none is lost, unless in regard to it both have been acted upon in the opposite way.

Notes

  1. 50.17.153.prisdem in contrarium actis — A combination of 'isdem' (the ablative of the antecedent 'eadem modis' matching 'quibuscumque modis' in the relative clause) and 'actis' (the perfect passive participle of 'ago' in the ablative masculine/neuter plural). This is interpreted either as an ablative of means or as an ablative absolute meaning 'by the same being executed in the opposite way'.
  2. 50.17.153.prnisi in qua utrumque in contrarium actum est — The relative pronoun 'qua' (ablative singular feminine) refers to its antecedent 'possessio', making 'in qua' mean 'in which (possession)'. The subject 'utrumque' (neuter singular) refers to 'both' of the previously mentioned 'animus' (intention) and 'corpus' (body). Accordingly, the verb 'actum est' is also in the neuter singular form.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §50.17.153.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:50.17.153.pr

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