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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §50.17.38.pr

Heir's Liability and Profits from Ancestor's Delicts

Passage 9098 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

It states the principle that while an heir is not held liable for penalties arising from the deceased's delict, they are likewise not permitted to profit from such wrongful acts.

[POMPONIUS libro uicensimo nono ad Sabinum. ] §50.17.38.prSicuti poena ex delicto defuncti heres teneri non debeat, ita nec lucrum facere, si quid ex ea re ad eum peruenisset.
[POMPONIUS, in his twenty-ninth book on Sabinus.] Just as an heir ought not to be held liable for a penalty arising from the delict of the deceased, so also he ought not to make a profit if anything from that matter has come to him.

Notes

  1. §50.17.38.prpoena — Interpreted as an ablative with a long vowel (poenā), meaning "by a penalty" or "in respect of a penalty," which modifies the passive infinitive `teneri` ("to be held liable").
  2. §50.17.38.prlucrum facere — The modal verb `debeat` from the preceding `sicuti` clause is understood as omitted here, forming the elliptical construction `lucrum facere [debeat]` ("he ought [not] to make a profit").

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §50.17.38.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:50.17.38.pr

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