Corpus iurisprudentiae Romanae

Repertorium zu den Quellen des römischen Rechts

Digesta Iustiniani Augusti

Recognovit Mommsen (1870) et retractavit Krüger (1928)
Convertit in Anglica lingua Scott (1932)
Dig. XLIII5,
De tabulis exhibendis
Liber quadragesimus tertius
V.

De tabulis exhibendis

(Concerning the Production of Papers Relating to a Will.)

1Ul­pia­nus li­bro se­xa­gen­si­mo oc­ta­vo ad edic­tum. Prae­tor ait: ‘Quas ta­bu­las Lu­cius Ti­tius ad cau­sam tes­ta­men­ti sui per­ti­nen­tes re­li­quis­se di­ce­tur, si hae pe­nes te sunt aut do­lo ma­lo tuo fac­tum est, ut de­si­ne­rent es­se, ita eas il­li ex­hi­beas. item si li­bel­lus aliud­ve quid re­lic­tum es­se di­ce­tur, de­cre­to com­pre­hen­dam’. 1Si quis for­te con­fi­tea­tur pe­nes se es­se tes­ta­men­tum, iu­ben­dus est ex­hi­be­re, et tem­pus ei dan­dum est, ut ex­hi­beat, si non pot­est in prae­sen­tia­rum ex­hi­be­re. sed si ne­get se ex­hi­be­re pos­se vel opor­te­re, in­ter­dic­tum hoc com­pe­tit. 2Hoc in­ter­dic­tum per­ti­net non tan­tum ad tes­ta­men­ti ta­bu­las, ve­rum ad om­nia, quae ad cau­sam tes­ta­men­ti per­ti­nent: ut pu­ta et ad co­di­cil­los per­ti­net. 3Si­ve au­tem va­let tes­ta­men­tum si­ve non, vel quod ab in­itio in­uti­li­ter fac­tum est, si­ve rup­tum sit vel in quo alio vi­tio, sed et­iam si fal­sum es­se di­ca­tur vel ab eo fac­tum qui tes­ta­men­ti fac­tio­nem non ha­bue­rit: di­cen­dum est in­ter­dic­tum va­le­re. 4Si­ve su­pre­mae ta­bu­lae sint si­ve non sint, sed prio­res, di­cen­dum in­ter­dic­tum hoc lo­cum ha­be­re. 5Ita­que di­cen­dum est ad om­nem om­ni­no scrip­tu­ram tes­ta­men­ti, si­ve per­fec­tam si­ve im­per­fec­tam, in­ter­dic­tum hoc per­ti­ne­re. 6Pro­in­de et si plu­res ta­bu­lae sint tes­ta­men­ti, quia sae­pius fe­ce­rat, di­cen­dum est in­ter­dic­to lo­cum fo­re: est enim quod ad cau­sam tes­ta­men­ti per­ti­neat, quid­quid quo­quo tem­po­re fac­tum ex­hi­be­ri de­beat. 7Sed et si de sta­tu dis­cep­te­tur, si tes­ta­tor fi­lius fa­mi­lias vel ser­vus hoc fe­cis­se di­ca­tur, et hoc ex­hi­be­bi­tur. 8Item si fi­lius fa­mi­lias fe­ce­rit tes­ta­men­tum, qui de cas­tren­si pe­cu­lio tes­ta­ba­tur, ha­bet lo­cum in­ter­dic­tum. 9Idem est et si is, qui tes­ta­men­tum fe­cit, apud hos­tes de­ces­sit. 10Hoc in­ter­dic­tum ad vi­vi ta­bu­las non per­ti­net, quia ver­ba prae­to­ris ‘re­li­que­rit’ fe­ce­runt men­tio­nem. 11Sed et si de­le­tum si­ne do­lo sit tes­ta­men­tum

1Ulpianus, On the Edict, Book LXVIII. The Prætor says: “If you have in your possession any documents which Lucius Titius is alleged to have left, and which have reference to his will; or if you have committed some fraudulent act to avoid having them in your possession, you must produce them for So-and-So. I shall include in my decree all memoranda, or anything else which he is said to have left.” 1If anyone acknowledges that the will is in his possession, he should be ordered to produce it, and time should be granted him to do so, if he cannot produce it immediately. If he states that he cannot produce it, or denies that this ought to be done, the interdict will lie. 2This interdict not only has reference to the will itself, but also to everything relating to it, as, for instance, a codicil. 3It must be said that the interdict will be applicable whether the will is valid or not (whether it was void originally, or has been broken, or is defective in any other respect, or even if it is alleged to be forged, or to have been made by one who did not have testamentary capacity to make a will). 4It must be held that this interdict will apply whether the will in question was the last or the first one executed. 5Therefore, it should be said that this interdict has reference to every written will, whether it is perfect or imperfect. 6Hence, if there are several wills, made at different times, it must be held that this interdict will apply; for all instruments having reference to the will which have been drawn” up at different times should be produced. 7If a discussion arises with reference to the condition of the testator, and a son under paternal control, or a slave is alleged to have drawn up the will, it shall be produced. 8Moreover, there will be ground for this interdict where a son under paternal control makes a will disposing of his castrense peculium. 9The same rule will apply if he who executed the will dies while in the hands of the enemy. 10This interdict does not refer to the will of a person who is living, because the Prætor employs the term “left.” 11If the will has been erased without fraudulent intent,

2Pau­lus li­bro se­xa­gen­si­mo quar­to ad edic­tum. vel to­tum vel pars eius,

2Paulus, On the Edict, Book LXIV. Either entirely, or partially,

3Ul­pia­nus li­bro se­xa­gen­si­mo oc­ta­vo ad edic­tum. lo­cum ha­bet hoc in­ter­dic­tum. 1Si ta­bu­lae in plu­ri­bus co­di­ci­bus scrip­tae sint, om­nes in­ter­dic­to is­to con­ti­nen­tur, quia unum tes­ta­men­tum est. 2Si ta­bu­lae tes­ta­men­ti apud ali­quem de­po­si­tae sunt a Ti­tio, hoc in­ter­dic­to agen­dum est et cum eo qui de­ti­net et cum eo qui de­po­suit. 3Pro­in­de et si cus­to­diam ta­bu­la­rum ae­di­tuus vel ta­bu­la­rius sus­ce­pit, di­cen­dum est te­ne­ri eum in­ter­dic­to. 4Si pe­nes ser­vum ta­bu­lae fue­rint, do­mi­nus in­ter­dic­to te­ne­bi­tur. 5Si ip­se tes­ta­tor, dum vi­vit, ta­bu­las suas es­se di­cat et ex­hi­be­ri de­si­de­ret, in­ter­dic­tum hoc lo­cum non ha­be­bit, sed ad ex­hi­ben­dum erit agen­dum, ut ex­hi­bi­tas vin­di­cet. quod in om­ni­bus, qui cor­po­ra sua es­se di­cunt in­stru­men­to­rum, pro­ban­dum est. 6Si quis do­lo ma­lo fe­ce­rit, quo mi­nus pe­nes eum ta­bu­lae es­sent, ni­hi­lo mi­nus hoc in­ter­dic­to te­ne­bi­tur, nec prae­iu­di­ca­tur ali­quid le­gi Cor­ne­liae tes­ta­men­ta­riae, qua­si do­lo ma­lo tes­ta­men­tum sup­pres­se­rit. ne­mo enim id­eo im­pu­ne re­ti­net ta­bu­las, quod ma­ius fa­ci­nus ad­mi­sit, cum ex­hi­bi­tis ta­bu­lis ad­mis­sum eius ma­gis ma­ni­fes­te­tur. et pos­se ali­quem do­lo ma­lo fa­ce­re, ut in eam le­gem non in­ci­dat, ut pu­ta si ne­que amo­ve­rit ne­que ce­la­ve­rit ta­bu­las, sed id­cir­co alii tra­di­de­rit, ne eas in­ter­di­cen­ti ex­hi­be­ret, hoc est si non sup­pri­men­di ani­mo vel con­si­lio fe­cit, sed ne huic ex­hi­be­ret. 7Hoc in­ter­dic­tum ex­hi­bi­to­rium est. 8Quid sit ex­hi­be­re, vi­dea­mus. ex­hi­be­re hoc est ma­te­riae ip­sius ad­pre­hen­den­dae co­piam fa­ce­re. 9Ex­hi­be­re au­tem apud prae­to­rem opor­tet, ut ex auc­to­ri­ta­te eius sig­na­to­res ad­mo­ni­ti venirent ad re­co­gnos­cen­da sig­na: et si for­te non op­tem­pe­rent tes­tes, La­beo scri­bit co­er­ce­ri eos a prae­to­re de­be­re. 10So­lent au­tem ex­hi­be­ri ta­bu­las de­si­de­ra­re om­nes om­ni­no, qui quid in tes­ta­men­to ad­scrip­tum ha­bent. 11Con­dem­na­tio au­tem hu­ius iu­di­cii quan­ti in­ter­fuit aes­ti­ma­ri de­bet. 12Qua­re si he­res scrip­tus hoc in­ter­dic­to ex­pe­ria­tur, ad he­redi­ta­tem re­fe­ren­da est aes­ti­ma­tio: 13Et si le­ga­tum sit, tan­tum venit in aes­ti­ma­tio­nem, quan­tum sit in le­ga­to: 14Et si sub con­di­cio­ne le­ga­tum sit, qua­si con­di­cio­ne ex­is­ten­te sic aes­ti­man­dum est, nec com­pel­li de­be­bit ad ca­ven­dum, ut se re­sti­tu­tu­rum ca­veat, quid­quid con­se­cu­tus est, si con­di­cio de­fe­ce­rit, quia poe­na con­tu­ma­ciae prae­sta­tur ab eo qui non ex­hi­bet. 15In­de quae­ri­tur, si hinc con­se­cu­tus aes­ti­ma­tio­nem le­ga­ta­rius post­ea le­ga­tum pe­tat, an sit au­dien­dus. et pu­tem, si he­res idem prae­sti­tit, ex­cep­tio­ne do­li re­pel­len­dum, si alius, re­pel­li non opor­te­re. et id­eo et si he­res sit, qui in­ter­dic­to usus est aes­ti­ma­tio­nem con­se­cu­tus, ea­dem est di­stinc­tio. 16In­ter­dic­tum hoc et post an­num com­pe­te­re con­stat. sed et he­redi ce­te­ris­que suc­ces­so­ri­bus com­pe­tit.

3Ulpianus, On the Edict, Book LXVIII. This interdict will be applicable. 1If the will is written upon several sheets, they are all included under this interdict, because they constitute but a single will. 2If the will is deposited with anyone by Titius, proceedings can be instituted by virtue of this interdict, both against the person who has the will, and against him who deposited it with him. 3Hence, if the guardian of a temple or a notary has the will as a depositary, it must be said that he will be liable under this interdict. 4When the will is in the hands of a slave, his master will be liable under the interdict. 5If the testator himself says that the will is his, and wishes it to be produced, this interdict will not lie; but an action for its production must be brought to enable him to claim the will after it has been produced. This rule should be adopted in all cases where persons claim the ownership of documents. 6If anyone commits fraud in order to avoid having a will in his possession, he will still be liable under this interdict. Proceedings under the Cornelian Law relating to testaments will not, however, be prevented; as, for instance, if the party in question is alleged to have fraudulently suppressed the will. For no one can retain a will with impunity under the pretext that he has committed a more serious crime, and by the production of it, the crime, which is admitted, will be the more readily proved. Anyone may be guilty of fraud and yet not come within the provisions of this law, as for example, if he did not steal or hide the will, but delivered it to another to avoid being compelled to produce it for the inspection of the party making use of the interdict; that is to say, if he did this, not with the intention of suppressing the will, but in order to avoid producing it. 7This interdict is exhibitory. 8Let us see what it is to produce anything. It is to place it in such a position as to afford an opportunity for it to be taken hold of. 9Production must be made before the magistrate in such a way that by his authority the witnesses may be notified to appear and acknowledge their seals. If they do not obey, Labeo says that they should be compelled to do so by the magistrate. 10All persons to whom anything has been left by a will can demand its production. 11In a case of this kind the amount of the judgment should be in proportion to the interest of him for whose inspection the person having the will in his possession refuses to produce it. 12Therefore, if the appointed heir makes use of this interdict, the estimate of the damages must be in proportion to the value of the estate. 13If a legacy is in dispute, the amount of the damages must be in proportion to the value of the legacy. 14If the legacy was bequeathed under a condition, the estimate will be made just as if the condition had been complied with; nor shall the legatee be compelled to give security to restore whatever he obtains, if the condition should not be fulfilled; because the decree imposes the penalty for contumacy incurred by the heir for not producing the will. 15Hence, if the legatee, having received the value of his legacy in this way, afterwards claims the legacy itself, the question arises whether he should be heard. I think that if the heir paid the amount, the legatee will be barred by an exception on the ground of fraud; but if anyone else paid it, he will not be barred. Therefore, the same distinction should be made if the heir obtained the value of the legacy, after having availed himself of the interdict. 16It is established that this interdict can be employed even after the year has elapsed. It will lie in favor of the heir and other successors.

4Pau­lus li­bro se­xa­gen­si­mo no­no ad edic­tum. Si sint ta­bu­lae apud pu­pil­lum et do­lo tu­to­ris de­sie­rint es­se, in ip­sum tu­to­rem com­pe­tit in­ter­dic­tum: ae­quum enim est ip­sum ex de­lic­to suo te­ne­ri, non pu­pil­lum.

4Paulus, On the Edict, Book LXIX. If the will is in the possession of a ward, and he has been deprived of it by the fraudulent act of his guardian, the interdict will lie against the guardian himself; for it is only just that he should be liable for his own crime and not his ward.

5Ia­vo­le­nus li­bro ter­tio de­ci­mo ex Cas­sio. De ta­bu­lis pro­fe­ren­dis in­ter­dic­tum com­pe­te­re non opor­tet, si he­redi­ta­tis con­tro­ver­sia ex his pen­det aut si ad pu­bli­cam quaes­tio­nem per­ti­net: ita­que in ae­de sa­cra in­ter­im de­po­nen­dae sunt aut apud vi­rum ido­neum.

5Javolenus, On Cassius, Book XIII. The interdict, requiring a person to produce a will, will not lie where any controversy with reference to the estate is pending, or any public question is involved. Therefore the will should in the meantime be deposited either in a temple or in the hands of some responsible person.