Zur evictio in libertatem

Abstract

On evictio in libertatem. – By the evictio in libertatem might be affected the sale of a statuliber, likewise the sale of a slave whom the fideicommissaria libertas was bequeathed and who were sold without mentioning their condicio. Evictio in libertatem refers also to the sale of a slave whose freedom was ordered through an earlier lex venditionis which was not repeated to the buyer and finally to the sale of a liber homo that was bought without the buyer`s knowledge of his freedom. Besides the dispersed phenomena of evictio in libertatem the paper deals with the cases where the liability of a vendor for eviction was excluded because of the fact that 1) the buyer has voluntarily (effective or ineffective) freed the bought slave, 2) the buyer was forced by praetor to manumit the bought slave ex causa fideicommissi, 3) the buyer caused the freedom of the bought slave indirectly through a breach of an obligation. Despite the excluded liability for eviction an actio empti was granted to the buyer if he suffered a loss in consequence of the legal defect, namely when: 1) the vendor in the sale said that the man sold is a statuliber, but concealed the condition of his freedom, he knew, 2) the vendor concealed the fact that to the slave sold the fideicommissary freedom is bequeathed and the slave, after he has been freed from the buyer, changed the person of the patron, 3) the vendor concealed the fideicommissary freedom bequeathed to the slave sold and the buyer was forced to manumit the slave. Furthermore was the seller liable ex empto when he said that the man sold is a statuliber, directed to be free on giving a certain amount of money, but declared the sum to be greater than it really was.