ROMAN LAW OF PROPERTY. Working Questions IV

 Juventa (above), winner of the Miss Rome competition in the year 113AD and wine aficionadoSpecificatio, fructus & usucapio (and some other things) 

1. Javolena is the bonitary owner of a lovely little vineyard (how do you suppose she became that?) and has been tending it for several months. She decides to make some fruit juice, and collects a pail full of grapes and starts crushing them underfoot. Eventually she has an entirely drinkable amount of juice. Does she own the juice? If yes or no, what is the legal basis for your answer?
2. Without knowing anything about him, Calpurnia buys some clay from Titus, who has stolen it. She makes a lovely statue from it, and has a bit of clay left which she leaves in a cold storage unit she set up for that very purpose. She burnishes the statue in a kiln. Does she own the statue? On what legal basis? Does she own the blob of clay? On what legal basis?
3. Juventa likes wine. She receives a bottle of Plonk Estate Falernian as a gift from a friend, and unwittingly mixes it in a little vat at home with a bottle of identical wine belonging to her housemate. What are the legal consequences of this?
4. It’s the year 200BC. Titia picks up a pair of spectacles she saw someone throw into a rubbish bin. Does she become the owner? What conditions have to be met for that to happen, if it is indeed possible?
5. If the year in question 5 is in fact 100AD, how would your answer differ?
6. Think about the function of usucapio in Roman society. Was it a useful legal institution? If yes, why? If no, why not?
7. What problems are there inherent in usucapio?
8. Specificatio and accessio are merely species of the same legal notion. Do you agree? Or disagree? Discuss.
9. It’s the year 100AD and Lavernia is a usufructuary of a tract of land in Pisa. What does this limited real right entitle her to do in respect of the land? Make a list of things she may do, and a list of things she is not permitted to do in respect of it.

10. On the piece of Pisan land, there stands a fig tree. Eleven figs are blown to the ground in a gust of wind, and five fall on the land of which Lavernia is the usufructuary. The other six land on her neighbours land. How might Lavernia become owner of the figs?


Falernian Wine (Poem 27)
by Catullus
Waiter-boy, pour me stronger cups


of old Falernian, since the laws of Postumia


– the mistress – demand it,


she who’s juicier then the juicy grape.


But you, water, the death of wine, shoo off:


far off, wherever, be off to those whose throats are dry.


This wine is liquidated Bacchus.

Who was Catullus?
Wikipedia says:
Gaius Valerius Catullus (ca. 84 BC – ca. 54 BC) was a Latin poet of the Republican period. His surviving works are still read widely, and continue to influence poetry and other forms of art.

It was probably in Rome that Catullus fell deeply in love with the Lesbia of his poems, who is usually identified with Clodia Metelli, a sophisticated woman from the aristocratic house of patrician Claudii Pulchri and sister of the infamous Publius Clodius Pulcher. In his poems, Catullus describes several stages of their relationship: initial euphoria, doubts, separation, and his wrenching feelings of loss. Many questions must remain unanswered – most importantly, it is not clear why the couple split up – but Catullus’ poems about the relationship display striking depth and psychological insight. One such poem with insight to the reasons of his parting with Lesbia is poem 11, which is addressed to his companions Furius and Aurelius and requests them simply to pass a farewell insult to Lesbia.
Further reading: For fun, find English translations of Catullus’ poems online. They are readily available.
What was Falernian wine?
Wikipedia says:

Falernian wine (Latin: Falernum) was produced from Aglianico grapes (and possibly Greco as well) on the slopes of Mount Falernus near the border of Latium and Campania where it became the most renowned wine produced in ancient Rome, considered a “cult wine” for its time, often mentioned in Roman literature but has since disappeared.

Questions for your general education:

1. Who was Bacchus?
2. What is the English adjective we derive from the name Bacchus? How is it used? Use it in a sentence.

3. Who painted the famous picture below? When?

ROMAN LAW OF PROPERTY. Third Set of Questions

Foundations of South African LawWorking Questions III
Accessio

1. Janus walks home and, just before he gets there, he sees his neighbour Paul has left some bricks and pieces of wood near the gate of his (Paul’s) property, some clearly within his property and some just outside the gate on the pavement. Since Janus had for some time been planning to build a hut on his own property, he takes this (what he sees as) discarded rubble and transfers it to his property. He proceeds to build a hut on his land. Consider the following questions.


1.1 Are the bricks and wood res derelictae? What information would you need to make such a determination?
1.2 What is the relevance of the question under 1?
1.3 Assuming that the material has not been abandoned by Paul, would he have a remedy against Janus before Janus had started building the hut?
1.4 Would he have a remedy after the hut was fully built? What would the answer to this question depend upon? (In other words: does the answer to the last question depend upon Janus’ state of mind?)
1.5 Does your answer under 1.4 depend upon the date? In other words, did the law change over time, and, if so, how?
1.6 Do you think it’s a good idea for a legal system to encourage huts that have been built to be broken down? Why? Or, why not? If you think this is a good idea, in what circumstances would it be justified? If your answer is no, what other remedy would someone have if his res (things) have been taken by another and built into a building on the latter’s land?
1.7 What is the position in the modern South African law? (Explore.)
1.8 Refer again to the vignette (story) above: what would the legal position be if Paul had in fact built a hut on a tract of land which he thought belonged to him, but in fact belonged to Janus?
1.9 Does your answer under 1.8 depend upon Paul’s state of mind? Explain. If your answer is that it does in fact depend upon Paul’s state of mind, do any difficulties arise as a result of this state of the law. Consider.



1.10 Are there any similarities between the rules adverted to above and rules which emerged in indigenous African legal systems. What were the legal solutions devised for these (surely common) problems in indigenous African legal systems? If you do find similarities, what does this tell one about the emergence of early legal ideas?

ROMAN LAW OF PROPERTY. Second Set of Questions

Foundations of South African Law
Occupatio
Working Questions II

1. Julia goes hunting in the wildernis, on land which is unenclosed and which belongs the local Municipality. There she finds a herd of buck which she pursues. She shoots one young buck in the hind leg, but the buck chases away. Discuss who owns the buck in question.

2. Would your answer under 1 above differ if Julia had not shot the buck, but in fact caught it in a trap. Explain your answer.


3. The newspapers are currently full of stories about the Tiger of Delmas which escaped from the bakkie of Goosey Fernandes. The tiger is currently on the loose. Someone approaches you to enquire whether it would be possible for him to acquire ownership of the tiger by capturing him. Please advise.
4. Would your answer to 3 differ if it were a domestic cat? Explain.
5. I forget a book which I bought yesterday outside the Law Library. Who does it belong to? Why?


6. Would your answer under 5 differ if the book were still lying there after two weeks during which I had attended several lectures in the Law Faculty Buidling?



7. “Occupatio is a primitive concept.” Discuss.

ROMAN LAW OF PROPERTY -First Set of Questions

FOUNDATIONS OF SOUTH AFRICAN LAW
Law of Property
Ownership, possession, categories of res
Working Questions I
1. Sextus goes for a walk in the countryside. It’s a hot and sunny day, and he wishes he had decided to wear a hat. As he passes a meadow, he sees an old weather-beaten hat lying in the grass. He picks it up and puts it on his head.
(a) After picking up the hat, is Sextus in possession of the hat? Explain.


(b) Does Sextus become the owner of the hat?

2. It’s the year 400AD. Quintus wishes to buy a very impressive house in Rome, and he approaches the Catholic bishop who lives nearby to enquire whether the small unused church in the neighbourhood is possibly up for sale.
(a) Write a short dialogue to illustrate what you think the conversation between the bishop and Quintus might have been.


(b) How would the facts of this little tale have differed if the date was 200BC?

3. It’s a windy day and bits of debris get blown into Lavinia’s back yard. Among them is a beautiful feather which appears to originate from the plumage of a wild peacock which roams in the forest nearby.
(a) Does Lavinia become the possessor of the feather lying in her garden?


(b) Does she become the owner of it?


(c) Would your answers to (a) and (b) differ if she had picked the feather up and put it in a vase in her house?

4. Desideria is a young entrepreneur and wishes to make what in common parlance is called a quick buck. She chances upon a deserted beach which she thinks would be very popular with the young party crowd. She wants to set up a bar and an outdoor disco there.

(a) Write a short legal opinion advising Desideria of the chances of her plan succeeding.

5. Mucius is a scientist and wants to experiment on the atmosphere in order to find a solution for global warming. He wishes to bottle a quantity of air.

(a) Advise Mucius on the legal position.


6. The year is 50BC. Cassius has two slaves but wishes to sell one of them since his household requires less assistance than before. He is in a hurry to get rid of the slave and to pocket the proceeds. He decides to sell the slave in question to his good friend Lucius. Since they are such good friends, they decide they will not go through the tiresome procedures required for mancipatio and that they will rather just agree informally between themselves on the sale. Yet, a week after the sale, they have an argument, and Cassius decides he will show Lucius who’s boss. When he sees the slave in question pass his front door, he invites him into his house, and then refuses to release him to Lucius when the latter comes calling looking for his slave.
(a) Analyse the legal position, and the respective rights of the two parties. Set your analysis out in ten simple sentences.


(b) Would your answer differ if the year were 550AD. Why?


7. Lucretia has a beautiful necklace which slips off when she goes to the Circus Maximus to watch the races.
(a) Advise Lucretia.