Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §8.2.6.pr

Extinction of Urban Servitudes by Non-Use and Usucapio Libertatis

Passage 1374 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Gaius explains the conditions under which urban servitudes are lost by non-use, clarifying that they require the servient owner to acquire freedom from the servitude by usucapion, with examples of height restriction and beam insertion.

[GAIUS libro septimo ad edictum prouinciale. ] §8.2.6.prHaec autem iura similiter ut rusticorum quoque praediorum certo tempore non utendo pereunt: nisi quod haec dissimilitudo est, quod non omnimodo pereunt non utendo, sed ita, si uicinus simul libertatem usucapiat.
[GAIUS in the seventh book on the Provincial Edict.] However, these rights, similarly to those of rustic estates, perish by non-use for a certain period of time: except that there is this difference, that they do not perish by non-use in every case, but only if the neighbor at the same time acquires freedom by usucapion.
ueluti si aedes tuae aedibus meis seruiant, ne altius tollantur, ne luminibus mearum aedium officiatur, et ego per statutum tempus fenestras meas praefixas habuero uel obstruxero, ita demum ius meum amitto, si tu per hoc tempus aedes tuas altius sublatas habueris: alioquin si nihil noui feceris, retineo seruitutem.
For example, if your house is subject to a servitude to my house, that it is not to be raised higher, or that the light of my house is not to be obstructed, and I, during the statutory period, have kept my windows blocked or obstructed, I lose my right only if you, during this period, have kept your house raised higher: otherwise, if you have done nothing new, I retain the servitude.
item si tigni immissi aedes tuae seruitutem debent et ego exemero tignum, ita demum amitto ius meum, si tu foramen, unde exemptum est tignum, obturaueris et per constitutum tempus ita habueris: alioquin si nihil noui feceris, integrum ius suum permanet.
Likewise, if your house owes a servitude of inserting a beam, and I have removed the beam, I lose my right only if you have blocked the hole from which the beam was removed, and have kept it so for the established period: otherwise, if you have done nothing new, the right remains unimpaired.

Notes

  1. §8.2.6.prnisi quod haec dissimilitudo est, quod — The conjunctional phrase 'nisi quod' ('except that') introduces a limitation on the previous statement, followed by 'haec dissimilitudo est', whose specific content is explained by the appositional 'quod' clause ('quod non omnimodo...').
  2. §8.2.6.prita demum... si — The correlative expression 'ita demum... si' ('only then... if') is used to strongly limit and emphasize the condition, indicating that the loss of the right (the main clause) occurs only under the condition introduced by 'si'.
  3. §8.2.6.printegrum ius suum permanet — The third-person possessive pronoun 'suum' refers back to the right-holder of the servitude (who was expressed in the first person 'meum' just before), treating them objectively. Grammatically, it functions reflexively to indicate the owner of the subject 'ius'.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §8.2.6.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:8.2.6.pr

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.