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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §7.6.2.pr

Heir's Damage to Usufruct Land and Duty of Compensation

Passage 1303 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This section discusses the judge's duty to evaluate the state of the land prior to the joinder of issue and ensure the usufructuary is compensated if the heir has damaged the property or altered its servitudes.

[POMPONIUS libro quinto ad Sabinum. ] §7.6.2.prSi ab herede ex testamento fundi usus fructus petitus sit, qui arbores deiecisset aut aedificium demolitus esset aut aliquo modo deteriorem usum fructum fecisset aut seruitutes imponendo aut uicinorum praedia liberando, ad iudicis religionem pertinet, ut inspiciat, qualis ante iudicium acceptum fundus fuerit, ut usufructuario hoc quod interest ab eo seruetur.
[POMPONIUS in the fifth book on Sabinus.] If the usufruct of a land is claimed from the heir on the basis of a will, and the heir has cut down trees, or demolished a building, or in some way made the usufruct worse either by imposing servitudes or by freeing the neighbors' estates, it belongs to the duty of the judge to examine what state the land was in before the joinder of issue, so that what is of interest to the usufructuary may be preserved to him by the heir.

Notes

  1. §7.6.2.prqui — The relative pronoun 'qui' refers back to 'herede'. The verbs in this relative clause are in the subjunctive (deiecisset, demolitus esset, fecisset) because the clause is embedded in a conditional clause ('Si... petitus sit') and describes the characteristics or prior actions of a hypothetical heir (subjunctive of characteristic or attraction).
  2. §7.6.2.prante iudicium acceptum — A construction of a noun and a perfect passive participle, meaning 'before the lawsuit is accepted', which refers to the 'litis contestatio' (joinder of issue) in Roman civil procedure. This moment serves as the reference point for assessing the state of the land and the damages.
  3. §7.6.2.prhoc quod interest — Derived from the impersonal verb 'interest' (it concerns/is of importance), this phrase refers to the 'interest' or 'utility' (id quod interest) of the plaintiff (the usufructuary), which in legal terms represents the amount of damages to be compensated for the loss suffered.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §7.6.2.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:7.6.2.pr

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