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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §50.17.178.pr

Failure of Accessory Matters upon Failure of the Principal

Passage 9238 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

States the legal rule that when the principal cause or legal relation does not stand, those things which follow or are accessory to it generally do not hold ground either.

[IDEM libro quinto decimo ad Plautium. ] §50.17.178.prCum principalis causa non consistat, plerumque ne ea quidem, quae sequuntur, locum habent. F(XYMC)
[THE SAME, in the fifteenth book on Plautius.] When the principal cause does not stand, for the most part, not even those things which follow have a place.

Notes

  1. 50.17.178.prprincipalis causa — Although causa has various meanings (cause, lawsuit, legal basis), here it is contrasted with 'quae sequuntur' to mean the 'principal legal relation' or 'principal cause' as opposed to accessory or subsequent relations.
  2. 50.17.178.prnon consistat — The verb consistere means 'to stand, endure, or subsist', and here it refers to a legal relation 'not being validly established' or 'not holding good'. It is in the subjunctive present, introduced by cum expressing a general circumstance ('when/if').
  3. 50.17.178.prlocum habent — Literally 'to have a place', locum habere is an idiomatic expression in legal texts meaning 'to apply, have force, or hold good'. Here, accompanied by ne ... quidem, it means 'not even they hold ground'.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §50.17.178.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:50.17.178.pr

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