6 An interdict for recovering possession is granted to persons who have
been forcibly ejected from land or buildings; their proper remedy being
the interdict 'Unde vi,' by which the ejector is compelled to restore
possession, even though it had been originally obtained from him by the
grantee of the interdict by force, clandestinely, or by permission.
But by imperial constitutions, as we have already observed, if a man
violently seizes on property to which he has a title, he forfeits his
right of ownership; if on property which belongs to some one else,
he has not only to restore it, but also to pay the person whom he has
violently dispossessed a sum of money equivalent to its value. In cases
of violent dispossession the wrongdoer is liable under the lex Iulia
relating to private or public violence, by the former being meant
unarmed force, by the latter dispossession effected with arms; and
the term 'arms' must be taken to include not only shields, swords, and
helmets, but also sticks and stones.
7 Thirdly, interdicts are divided into simple and double. Simple
interdicts are those wherein one party is plaintiff and the other
defendant, as is always the case in orders of restitution or production;
for he who demands restitution or production is plaintiff, and he from
whom it is demanded is defendant. Of interdicts which order abstention
some are simple, others double. The simple are exemplified by those
wherein the praetor commands the defendant to abstain from desecrating
consecrated ground, or from obstructing a public river or its banks; for
he who demands such order is the plaintiff, and he who is attempting
to do the act in question is defendant. Of double interdicts we have
examples in Uti possidetis and Utrubi; they are called double because
the footing of both parties is equal, neither being exclusively
plaintiff or defendant, but each sustaining the double role.
8 To speak of the procedure and result of interdicts under the older law
would now be a waste of words; for when the procedure is what is called
'extraordinary,' as it is nowadays in all actions, the issue of an
interdict is unnecessary, the matter being decided without any such
preliminary step in much the same way as if it had actually been taken,
and a modified action had arisen on it.
TITLE XVI. OF THE PENALTIES FOR RECKLESS LITIGATION
It should here be observed that great pains have been taken by those
who in times past had charge of the law to deter men from reckless
litigation, and this is a thing that we too have at heart. The best
means of restraining unjustifiable litigation, whether on the part of
a plaintiff or of a defendant, are money fines, the employment of the
oath, and the fear of infamy.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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