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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §9.2.37.pr-9.2.37.1

Liability for Commanded Damage and Killing Subject Animals

Passage 1554 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This section determines the liability for damage caused by a free man under another's command, and specifies how to calculate damages under the Lex Aquilia when an animal already subject to a damage action is killed by a third party.

[IAUOLENUS libro quarto decimo ex Cassio. ] §9.2.37.prLiber homo si iussu alterius manu iniuriam dedit, actio legis Aquiliae cum eo est qui iussit, si modo ius imperandi habuit: quod si non habuit, cum eo agendum est qui fecit.
[IAVOLENUS, in the fourteenth book of his commentary on Cassius.] If a free man has caused damage with his own hand by the order of another, an action under the Lex Aquilia lies against the one who ordered it, provided only that he had the right to command; but if he did not have it, the action must be brought against the one who did the deed.
§9.2.37.1Si quadrupes, cuius nomine actio esset cum domino, quod pauperiem fecisset, ab alio occisa est et cum eo lege Aquilia agitur, aestimatio non ad corpus quadrupedis, sed ad causam eius (in quo de pauperie actio est) referri debet et tanti damnandus est is qui occidit iudicio legis Aquiliae, quanti actoris interest noxae potius deditione defungi quam litis aestimatione.
If a four-footed beast, on whose account an action would lie against its owner for having caused damage, is killed by another, and an action is brought against him under the Lex Aquilia, the valuation ought to be referred not to the body of the beast, but to its legal condition (under which there is an action for damage caused by an animal); and the person who killed it must be condemned in the action under the Lex Aquilia to pay as much as it is in the interest of the plaintiff to discharge his liability by surrender of the offending animal rather than by paying the valuation of the lawsuit.

Notes

  1. 9.2.37.prsi modo — This phrase introduces a restrictive condition meaning 'provided only that' or 'only if,' emphasizing the division of liability based on whether the right to command (ius imperandi) existed.
  2. 9.2.37.prquod si — A transitional formula meaning 'but if,' introducing a counter-hypothesis (the absence of the right to command) to contrast with the previous positive condition.
  3. 9.2.37.1cuius nomine — Combining the genitive relative pronoun cuius (referring to quadrupes) with nomine, it means 'on whose account' or 'on whose behalf,' indicating that the action against the owner arises from the actions of that specific animal.
  4. 9.2.37.1quanti actoris interest — The impersonal verb interest takes the genitive of the person concerned (actoris) and the genitive of value/degree (quanti, correlating with tanti in the main clause), with the subsequent infinitive phrase (defungi) functioning as its logical subject.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §9.2.37.pr-9.2.37.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:9.2.37.pr-9.2.37.1

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