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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §50.17.157.pr-50.17.157.2

Exemption of Obedient Slaves, Fictitious Possession, and Successors

Passage 9217 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This fragment regulates the scope of excuse for slaves obeying their masters' orders, the legal fiction regarding those who fraudulently rid themselves of possession, and the extent of successors' liability for the fraud of the deceased in contracts.

[IDEM libro septuagensimo primo ad edictum. ] §50.17.157.prAd ea, quae non habent atrocitatem facinoris uel sceleris, ignoscitur seruis, si uel dominis uel his, qui uice dominorum sunt, ueluti tutoribus et curatoribus obtemperauerint.
[THE SAME, in the seventy-first book on the edict.] With respect to those acts which do not involve the atrocity of a crime or wickedness, slaves are excused if they have obeyed either their masters or those who stand in the place of masters, such as tutors and curators.
§50.17.157.1Semper qui dolo fecit, quo minus haberet, pro eo habendus est, ac si haberet.
He who has acted with fraud in order not to possess a thing must always be regarded in the same light as if he possessed it.
§50.17.157.2In contractibus successores ex dolo eorum, quibus successerunt, non tantum in id quod peruenit, uerum etiam in solidum tenentur, hoc est unusquisque pro ea parte qua heres est.
In contracts, successors are liable for the fraud of those whom they succeed, not only to the extent of what has come into their hands, but for the whole amount, that is, each for the share in which he is heir.

Notes

  1. 50.17.157.prignoscitur seruis — An impersonal passive construction of the intransitive verb ignoscere (to pardon/excuse), which governs the dative case. Together with the dative seruis, it means "slaves are excused".
  2. 50.17.157.1quo minus haberet — A subjunctive clause of purpose dependent on fecit. The conjunction quominus (or quo minus) indicates a negative purpose ("lest" or "so that... not"), meaning "acted in such a way as not to have or possess".
  3. 50.17.157.2in solidum — A legal term meaning "for the whole" or "jointly and severally". It indicates that the liability of the successors for the fraud of the deceased is not limited to the active enrichment they received (in id quod peruenit), but extends to the entire debt, though qualified by hoc est... indicating it is divided according to their hereditary shares.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §50.17.157.pr-50.17.157.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:50.17.157.pr-50.17.157.2

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