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. XLVIII17,
De requirendis vel absentibus damnandis
Liber quadragesimus octavus
XVII.

De requirendis vel absentibus damnandis

(Concerning the Conviction of Persons Who Are Sought For or Are Absent.)

1Mar­cia­nus li­bro se­cun­do pu­bli­co­rum. Di­vi Se­ve­ri et An­to­ni­ni mag­ni re­scrip­tum est, ne quis ab­sens pu­nia­tur: et hoc iu­re uti­mur, ne ab­sen­tes dam­nen­tur: ne­que enim in­au­di­ta cau­sa quem­quam dam­na­ri ae­qui­ta­tis ra­tio pa­ti­tur. 1Si au­tem gra­vius quis pu­nia­tur, pu­ta in opus me­tal­li vel si­mi­lem poe­nam si­ve ca­pi­ta­lem: hoc ca­su non est ir­ro­gan­da in ab­sen­tem poe­na, sed ab­sens re­qui­ren­dus ad­no­ta­tus est, ut co­piam sui prae­stet. 2Prae­si­des au­tem pro­vin­cia­rum cir­ca re­qui­ren­dos ad­no­ta­tos hoc de­bent fa­ce­re, ut eos quos ad­no­ta­ve­rint edic­tis ad­es­se iu­beant, ut pos­sit in­no­tes­ce­re eis quod ad­no­ta­ti sunt, sed et lit­te­ras ad ma­gis­tra­tus, ubi con­sis­tunt, mit­te­re, ut per eos pos­sit in­no­tes­ce­re re­qui­ren­dos eos es­se ad­no­ta­tos. 3Eex hoc an­nus com­pu­ta­tur ad se pur­gan­dos. 4Sed et Pa­pi­nia­nus li­bro sex­to de­ci­mo re­spon­so­rum scrip­sit re­qui­ren­dum ad­no­ta­tum si pro­vin­ciae prae­si­dem in­tra an­num ad­ie­rit et sa­tis ob­tu­le­rit, non es­se lo­cum man­da­tis, ut bo­na fis­co vin­di­cen­tur. nam et si in­tra an­num mor­tuus sit, cri­mi­nis cau­sa ex­pi­rat et per­it et bo­na eius ad suc­ces­so­res trans­mit­tun­tur.

1Marcianus, Public Prosecutions, Book II. The Divine Severus and Antoninus stated in a Rescript that no one who is absent should be punished, and it is the present law that absent persons shall not be condemned; for the rule of equity does not suffer anyone to be convicted without being heard. 1If anyone is liable to severe punishment, for instance, if he may be condemned to labor in the mines, or to a similar penalty, or to a capital one, in this case the penalty must not be inflicted upon an absent person, but anyone who is absent and is sought for is recorded as being present. 2The Governors of provinces should follow this course with reference to defendants who are sought for, and noted as being present; namely, they should order them by Edicts to appear in order that those who have been mentioned as being present should become aware of the fact. They should also write to magistrates where the parties live, in order that, by their agency, those who are being sought for may ascertain that they have been recorded as being present. 3A year is computed from this date to enable them to purge themselves of contempt. 4And even Papinianus, in the Sixteenth Book of Opinions, says that he who is sought for, and noted as being present, must appear before the Governor of the province within twelve months, and furnish security; and that there is no reason to order that his property shall be confiscated to the Treasury, for if he should die within the year, the accusation of the crime will be extinguished, and come to an end, and the property of the party accused will be transmitted to his successors.

2Ma­cer li­bro se­cun­do pu­bli­co­rum. An­ni spa­tium ad oc­cu­pan­da bo­na eius, qui re­qui­ren­dus ad­no­ta­tus est, per­ti­net. 1Sed si per vi­gin­ti an­nos fis­cus bo­na non oc­cu­pa­ve­rit, post­ea prae­scrip­tio­ne vel ab ip­so reo vel ab he­redi­bus eius sub­mo­ve­bi­tur:

2Macer, On Public Prosecutions, Book II. The term of a year is fixed for the purpose of seizing the property of anyone who is sought for and noted as being present. 1If, however, the Treasury does not seize his property for twenty years, it will be barred from doing so subsequently, if prescription should be pleaded either by the defendant himself, or by his heirs.

3Mar­cia­nus li­bro se­cun­do de pu­bli­cis iu­di­ciis. quam­cum­que enim quaes­tio­nem apud fis­cum, si non alia sit pro­pria prae­scrip­tio, vi­gin­ti an­no­rum si­len­tio prae­scri­bi di­vi prin­ci­pes vo­lue­runt.

3Marcianus, On Public Prosecutions, Book II. Any claim made by the Treasury is prescribed by a silence of twenty years, when there is no other prescription, as was established by the Divine Emperors.

4Ma­cer li­bro se­cun­do de pu­bli­cis iu­di­ciis. An­nus ex­in­de com­pu­tan­dus est, ex quo ea ad­no­ta­tio quae vel edic­to vel lit­te­ris ad ma­gis­tra­tus fac­tis pu­bli­ce in­no­tuit. 1Er­go et vi­gin­ti an­no­rum tem­pus ex­in­de fis­co nu­me­ra­tur, ex quo ad­no­ta­tio pu­bli­ce in­no­tuit. 2In sum­ma scien­dum est nul­la tem­po­ris prae­scrip­tio­ne cau­sae de­fen­sio­ne sum­mo­ve­ri eum, qui re­qui­ren­dus ad­no­ta­tus est.

4Macer, On Public Prosecutions, Book II. The year is computed from the time when the notification was publicly made, either by means of an Edict or by letters sent to the magistrate. 1Therefore, the term of twenty years is reckoned for the Treasury, from the moment when the notice was published. 2In a word, it should be remembered that he who is sought for and notified is not barred from undertaking his defence by any prescription of time.

5Mo­des­ti­nus li­bro duo­de­ci­mo pan­dec­ta­rum. Man­da­tis ca­ve­tur in­tra an­num re­qui­ren­do­rum bo­na ob­sig­na­ri, ut, si red­ie­rint et se pur­ga­ve­rint, in­te­gram rem suam ha­beant: si ne­que re­spon­de­rint ne­que qui se de­fen­dant ha­bue­rint, tunc post an­num bo­na in fis­cum co­gun­tur. 1Et in­tra an­num me­dio tem­po­re mo­ven­tia si qua sunt, ne aut mo­ra de­te­rio­ra fiant aut ali­quo mo­do in­ter­eant, venire de­be­re pre­tium­que eo­rum in de­po­si­to es­se, di­vi Se­ve­rus et An­to­ni­nus san­xe­runt. 2Sed et di­vus Tra­ia­nus in­ter mo­ven­tia fruc­tus quo­que ha­be­ri re­scrip­sit. 3Cu­ran­dum est au­tem, ne quid ei qui pro­fu­git me­dio tem­po­re a de­bi­to­ri­bus eius sol­va­tur, ne per hoc fu­ga eius in­strua­tur.

5Modestinus, Pandects, Book XII. It is provided by the Imperial Mandates that the property of persons who are sought for shall be sealed up during the year, and if they return, and offer proper excuses, they shall have it restored to them. If, however, they do not answer, and no one appears to defend them, after a year has elapsed, their property shall be confiscated to the Treasury. 1And, during the intermediate year, any movable property belonging to them may be sold, in order to prevent it being spoiled by delay, or destroyed, and the proceeds thereof shall be deposited; as authorized by the Divine Severus and Antoninus. 2The Divine Trajan stated in a Rescript that crops also are considered movable property. 3Care, however, should be taken that the fugitive shall, in the meantime, be paid nothing by his debtors, lest by this means his flight may be aided.