delictual obligation

Question 1

delict (definition)

Answer 1

a wrongful act which causes damage to someone’s personality, his family, or his property, for which the victim or his heir is entitled to compensation

Question 2

could a wrongdoer’s liability end when they died

Answer 2

yes insofar as the heir did not benefit

Question 3

could a victim’s liability end when they died

Answer 3

the victim’s heir could maintain a delictual action against the wrongdoer

Question 4

what were the four major ‘institutional’ delicts

Answer 4

• wrongful damage to property
• theft
• robbery
• insulting behaviour

Question 5

what was the drawback of previous remedies for wrongful damage to property

Answer 5

their fixed monetary penalties did not take into account fluctuations in the value of currency

Question 6

when was the Lex Aquilia enacted

Answer 6

287 BC

Question 7

what was the murder of a slave/cattle classified as? what was the remedy available?

Answer 7

wrongful damage of property

the highest value that the property acquired the previous year

the ‘previous year’ was the year before the act that caused later death

Question 8

what was the compensation for damage to property (eg burning it)

where can this be found?

Answer 8

whatever the damage shall prove to be worth in the next thirty days

in the Lex Aquilia

Question 9

what were the three type of damages specifically mentioned (and therefore limited to) in wrongful damage of property

Answer 9

burning, breaking, tearing asunder

Question 10

what qualified as ‘loss’ in wrongful damage to property under the Lex Aquilia

Answer 10

had to prove that there was a depreciation in value that could be ascertainable

ie sentimental damages could not be recovered

Question 11

when was consequential loss included in suing for damage to a property

Answer 11

by the classical period

Question 12

damnum emergens

Answer 12

‘damage that comes to light’

eg if you murder one in a troupe of actors, damages should take into account how the value of the other actors in the troupe has lessened

Question 13

what is meant by ‘fault’ in wrongful damage to property

Answer 13

intentional or culpable conduct

Question 14

what was the standard of fault under the lex aquilias? (for wrongful damage of property)

Answer 14

‘even the slightest degree of fault counts’

and also the ‘diligent man’ test

but also there are many defences that work

Question 15

what was a defence against damages for wrongful property

Answer 15

necessity

Ulpian writes of a man who pulled down his neighbour’s house in order to keep a fie off his own

Question 16

actio legis aquiliae

Answer 16

action for the recovery of the financial value of the loss caused

Question 17

would there be liability under the lex aquilias if person A knocked a coin out of person B’s hand it fell into a river

Answer 17

no, because there was no damage to the body of the coin

this was changed in the corpus iuris

Question 18

contrectatio

Answer 18

some physical interference with (or handling of) the property (in regards to theft and robbery)

a thief normally takes away the property that he is stealing and it seems that an act of removal was necessary in early law

Question 19

why was there a requirement for ‘fraudulence’ in theft/robbery

Answer 19

the interference must have been fraudulent - there is no liability unless the defendant acted dishonestly

Question 20

what did ‘fraudulence’ exclude from liability

Answer 20

the insane, since they were unable to be capable of dishonest intent

children, until they were old enough to act with dishonest intent

Question 21

did setting up a trap for the thief (eg by leaving goods lying around) count as consent?

Answer 21

no

Question 22

requirements for theft:

Answer 22

• interference
• fraudulent
• a thing privately owned
• with a view to gain

Question 23

could land be stolen?

Answer 23

after debate, view in classical period that land could not be stolen, but things forming part of the land ( eg crops, minerals) could

Question 24

what was the purpose of the ‘with a view to gain’ condition for theft/robbery

Answer 24

to discern between theft and wrongful acts of damage to property

Question 25

animus lucrandi

Answer 25

with a view to gain

Question 26

furtum usus

Answer 26

theft of use

Question 27

furtum possessionis

Answer 27

theft of possession if an owner of property dishonestly interfered with someone else's rights in that property

Question 28

what is an example of furtum possessionis

Answer 28

if A sold a thing to B which A had pledged to C as security, A had committed theft

Question 29

what were the types of civil remedy for theft

Answer 29

- the recovery of stolen property (vindicatio) - the obtaining of damages (actio furti)

Question 30

what was a disadvantage of the vindicatio?

Answer 30

not available if the stolen property could not be traced

Question 31

what was the condictio furtiva

Answer 31

'the action for stolen property' allowed for recovery of the equivalent value of stolen property (if it had been lost) became the most frequently used of these actions

Question 32

actio furti

Answer 32

'the action for theft' the plaintiff could recover double or fourfold damages from the defendant, depending on the type of theft that had been committed

Question 33

what was manifest theft?

Answer 33

if you had been discovered in the act of stealing

Question 34

what would be recovered as 'damages' under an actio furti?

Answer 34

the 'true value' of the thing stolen

Question 35

who could be sued under an actio furti

Answer 35

against the thief but not his heirs accomplices were fully liable; the payment of one did not absolve the other

Question 36

robbery (definition)

Answer 36

theft enacted in a violent manner

Question 37

what was an exception of a claim violently upheld in good faith not incurring an action against robbery?

Answer 37

if the claim was bona fide

Question 38

what were the amount of damages you could sue up to for robbery

Answer 38

fourfold

Question 39

what did suing for fourfold damages bar you from (re robbery)

Answer 39

bringing a proprietary remedy for recovery of the property seized if he preferred, he could seek to recover property and sue for threefold damages

Question 40

what was the measure of damages based on (re robbery)

Answer 40

the value of the property, not the plaintiff's interest (unlike theft)

Question 41

iniuria

Answer 41

any act that deliberately affronted the dignity of another person (included acts or words)

Question 42

an example of iniuria

Answer 42

physical assault eg slapping someone

Question 43

what was the scope of iniuria initially

Answer 43

very small scope; mainly just physical assault

Question 44

edictum generale

Answer 44

a set of edicts to clarify iniuria

Question 45

in what cases was an actio iniuriarum available (per Hadrian's codification of the edictum generale)

Answer 45

1. assembling at another's house and raising an insulting and abusive clamour 2. removing the companion or attendant form a married woman or youth and accosting such a person, thus making them vulnerable to attack 3. any kind of defamation, not just libel 4. assaulting the slave of another without the permission of the owner

Question 46

three requirements for iniuria

Answer 46

- an insulting act - insult must be unjustifiable - hurt feelings

Question 47

actio iniuriarum

Answer 47

action for iniuria

Question 48

what was a praetorian delict

Answer 48

a variety of remedies of a delictual nature, introduced by the praetor to supplement the ius civile

Question 49

what are examples of praetorian delicts:

Answer 49

- corruption of slaves - duress - fraud

Question 50

what two remedies were available for damages done by animals

Answer 50

- actio de pauperie - edict of the aediles

Question 51

actio de pauperie

Answer 51

damage that was caused by an animal in circumstances where no one was at fault the action was based on the notion of noxal liability

Question 52

noxal liability

Answer 52

the idea that a head (eg a paterfamilias) was responsible for actions done by those in power

Question 53

Edict of Aediles

Answer 53

no one is to have a dangerous animal in a highway (/a place with a lot of traffic) so that it can escape and injure someone

Question 54

quasi-delicts

Answer 54

a group of actions of no obvious similarity yet classified by Justinian as analogous to delictual obligations

Question 55

example of quasi-delicts

Answer 55

- things hung or suspended - things poured or thrown - shippers, inkeepers, stablekeepers - erring judges

Question 56

things hung or suspended

Answer 56

if anything had been left over an eave or roof where the public pass and where it could injure someone if it fell against occupier of the building - even if not at fault to prevent harm - the action lay even if the bucket had not fallen

Question 57

shippers, inkeepers, stablekeepers

Answer 57

liability for theft or damage committed by the employees of shippers, inkeepers and stablekeepers additionally an inkeeper was liable for damage done by permanent residents, but not temporary ones the logic was that he chose his residents

Question 58

erring judges

Answer 58

a judge could be sued if he 'made the case his own' ie if he acted in a partial manner, and not like a judge