Law of Delict Flashcards
what were delicts in Roman Law?
legally recognised wrongs
is delict a claim in rem or in personam?
in personam
what are the four different delicts?
theft
robbery
damage
iniuria
who defined theft in roman law and what did it say?
“theft is the dishonest handling of a thing” - Justinian
what were the requirements for theft?
1) dishonest theftous intent
2) had to be handling of the thing
3) only applies to movable property
4) strong indication that it was the dishonest taking of movable property
what are the different types of theft under roman law?
manifest
non-manifest
robbery
who could sue for theft?
no people who had an interest or an investment in the thing could, for instance, the owner of the hirer
if a person who had made a loan for use, then had the object stolen what could the owner then do?
1) could sue the borrower under the contract of commodatum, leaving the borrower to sue the thief on theft
2) might sue the thief directly on theft
did bringing an action on theft prevent a man from also using vindicatio to recover the stolen thing?
no, different actions were available to the victim of a theft one arose from property law and the other from delict
what is iniuria
a delict in Roman law for the outrage caused by a false statement made against another person
what happens in terms of iniuria if one concealed one’s feelings at the time of the outrage
the action was lost
what is a defence to iniuria?
truth is a complete defence
what was the period after the outrage for an action to be brought
a year
what is damnum iniuria datum
causing damage to property or patrimonial assets
what was the criteria for damnum iniuria datum?
1) loss or harm to a patrimonial asset
2) some sort of wrongful conduct which could amount to either culpa or dolus
3) a causative link between the wrongful conduct and the loss
