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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §50.17.162.pr

Prohibition of Deriving General Rules from Exceptions of Necessity

Passage 9222 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Presents the principle that what has been accepted as an exception due to necessity should not be used as an argument to derive general rules.

[PAULUS libro septuagensimo ad edictum. ] §50.17.162.prQuae propter necessitatem recepta sunt, non debent in argumentum trahi.
[PAULUS, in the seventieth book on the edict.] What has been accepted because of necessity ought not to be drawn into an argument.

Notes

  1. §50.17.162.prquae propter necessitatem recepta sunt — A noun clause with the antecedent of the relative pronoun `quae` (neuter plural) omitted. It refers to "matters accepted because of necessity" (i.e., inevitable circumstances or demands of equity), denoting exceptional rules that depart from strict law.
  2. §50.17.162.prin argumentum trahi — The prepositional phrase `in argumentum` (for the purpose of argument, as a precedent) combined with the present passive infinitive `trahi` (to be drawn). This expresses the interpretive principle that exceptional rules must not be generalized or used as a basis for analogical application to other cases.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §50.17.162.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:50.17.162.pr

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