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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §8.5.17.pr-8.5.17.2

Remedies for Bulging Walls, Encroachment, and Dung-Heaps

Passage 1482 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Alfenus discusses the legal actions and remedies (actions in rem, interdicts, and stipulations for threatened damage) available when a neighbor's wall bulges into one's house, when items are unlawfully kept on a property subject to servitude, or when a neighboring dung-heap causes dampness to a wall.

[ALFENUS libro secundo digestorum. ] §8.5.17.prSi quando inter aedes binas paries esset, qui ita uentrem faceret, ut in uicini domum semipedem aut amplius procumberet, agi oportet ius non esse illum parietem ita proiectum in suum esse inuito se.
[ALFENUS, book 2 of Digests.] If at any time there should be a wall between two buildings which bulges in such a way that it juts out half a foot or more into the neighbor's house, an action ought to be brought to the effect that there is no right for that wall, so projecting, to be in one's own property against one's will.
§8.5.17.1Cum in domo Gaii Sei locus quidam aedibus Anni ita seruiret, ut in eo loco positum habere ius Seio non esset, et Seius in eo siluam seuisset, in qua labra et tenes cucumellas positas haberet, Annio consilium omnes iuris periti dederunt, ut cum eo ageret ius ei non esse in eo loco ea posita habere inuito se.
When a certain place in the house of Gaius Seius was subject to a servitude to the building of Annius in such a way that Seius had no right to have anything placed in that place, and Seius had planted a grove in it, in which he had water basins and... small jugs placed, all the legal experts gave advice to Annius that he should bring an action against him to the effect that he has no right to have those things placed in that place against his will.
§8.5.17.2Secundum cuius parietem uicinus sterculinum fecerat, ex quo paries madescebat, consulebatur, quemadmodum posset uicinum cogere, ut sterculinum tolleret.
A neighbor had built a dung-heap along someone's wall, from which the wall was becoming damp, and advice was sought as to how he could compel the neighbor to remove the dung-heap.
respondi, si in loco publico id fecisset, per interdictum cogi posse, sed si in priuato, de seruitute agere oportere: si damni infecti stipulatus esset, possit per eam stipulationem, si quid ex ea re sibi damni datum esset, seruare.
I answered that if he had done this in a public place, he could be compelled by an interdict, but if in a private place, one must bring an action concerning a servitude; if he had entered into a stipulation for threatened damage, he could protect himself through that stipulation if any damage should be caused to him from that matter.

Notes

  1. 8.5.17.prinuito se — The reflexive pronoun se refers to the logical subject of the impersonal phrase agi oportet (the plaintiff, i.e., the neighbor whose property is encroached upon). It indicates that the state of affairs is against the will of the aggrieved party, rather than the defendant.
  2. 8.5.17.1positum habere — The combination of habeo with the perfect passive participle (positum habere) is a periphrastic construction in Classical Latin emphasizing the maintenance of a completed state, meaning not merely 'to place' but 'to keep placed'.
  3. 8.5.17.2damni infecti — Genitive of damnum infectum (threatened or uncompleted damage). It functions as the object of the deponent verb stipulor (to extract a promise or stipulation), referring to having secured a stipulation for potential damage from the other party.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §8.5.17.pr-8.5.17.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:8.5.17.pr-8.5.17.2

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