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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §8.3.10.pr

Servitude to Search for Water and Conduct It When Found

Passage 1419 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Citing Labeo, the text explains that a servitude to search for water and lead it once found can be established even before the water is discovered, drawing an analogy to establishing a servitude before a building is constructed.

[IDEM libro quadragensimo nono ad edictum. ] §8.3.10.prLabeo ait talem seruitutem constitui posse, ut aquam quaerere et inuentam ducere liceat: nam si liceat nondum aedificato aedificio seruitutem constituere, quare non aeque liceat nondum inuenta aqua eandem constituere seruitutem? et si, ut quaerere liceat, cedere possumus, etiam ut inuenta ducatur, cedi potest.
[THE SAME, Commentary on the Edict, Book 49] Labeo says that such a servitude can be established, namely, that it is permitted to search for water and to lead it when found; for if it is permitted to establish a servitude when a building is not yet constructed, why should it not equally be permitted to establish the same servitude when water is not yet found? And if we can grant the right so that it is permitted to search, it can also be granted so that the water, when found, may be led.

Notes

  1. §8.3.10.prnondum aedificato aedificio — An ablative absolute expressing condition or concession ("even when a building is not yet constructed"). It stands in grammatical parallel with `nondum inuenta aqua` ("when water is not yet found").
  2. §8.3.10.prcedere ... cedi — The verb `cedere` refers to the creation or transfer of a right (specifically via *in iure cessio* in Roman law). The sentence shifts from the active voice `cedere possumus` ("we can grant/cede") to the passive infinitive `cedi potest` ("it can be granted/ceded").

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §8.3.10.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:8.3.10.pr

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