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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §6.2.17.pr

Purpose of the Publician Action and Protection of Good-Faith Buyers

Passage 1168 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

On the purpose of the Publician action. It is argued that this action was not designed to deprive the true owner of his property, but to protect a good-faith purchaser who obtained possession, as proved by equity and the defendant's exception of ownership.

[NERATIUS libro tertio membranarum. ] §6.2.17.prPubliciana actio non ideo comparata est, ut res domino auferatur: eiusque rei argumentum est primo aequitas, deinde exceptio 'si ea res possessoris non sit': sed ut is, qui bona fide emit possessionemque eius ex ea causa nactus est, potius rem habeat.
[NERATIUS on Parchments, book 3] The Publician action was not introduced for the purpose of taking the thing away from its owner: and the proof of this fact is first equity, and secondly the exception 'if that thing is not the property of the possessor': but rather that he who has bought in good faith and has obtained possession of it on that ground should keep the thing.

Notes

  1. 6.2.17.prdomino — domino is a dative of separation (or disadvantage) used with the verb auferatur (third-person singular present passive subjunctive), indicating the person from whom the thing is taken.
  2. 6.2.17.prnon ideo... ut... sed ut... — The correlative structure non ideo ... ut ... sed ut ... shows contrast: "it was not established for the purpose that ... [but was established] rather that ...".
  3. 6.2.17.prpossessoris — Genitive of possession (predicative genitive). It means "(is not) the property of the possessor", where "possessor" refers to the defendant (the current possessor) sued under the Publician action.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §6.2.17.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:6.2.17.pr

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