Evictio

Evictio Evincerc means generally to deprive a person of a thing or right, of which he is in the enjoyment, by legal process (Dig. 5, 2, 21, 2; 5, 3, 17, 55); but far the commonest case of evictio is that of the contract of sale [EMPTIO VENDITIO]. The vendor not being bound to make the purchaser owner of the thing sold (Dig. 19, 1, 11, 2), things were often bought and sold which did not belong to the vendor; and as the latter could give no better title than he had himself (Dig. 40, 1, 20, pr.), the purchaser was liable to be deprived of the res vendita ( evicted ) by the lawful owner. Originally there seems to have been no obligation on the vendor to compensate on such eviction, except in sales by mancipation, when the vendor was bound to return double the price to the purchaser, in such an event (Paul Sent. rec. 2, 17, 3): but in ordinary sales it seems to have become usual for the purchaser to stipulate from the vendor for a penal sum of twice the amount of the purchase-money (stipulatio duplae) if deprived of the property by any one with a better title. Eventually it became a general rule of law, that if the purchaser was evicted by legal process, the vendor must indemnify him (evictionem praestare, Dig. 21, 2, 1). But it was necessary that the purchaser should neglect no proper means of defence, when an attempt was made to evict him; and it was his duty to give the vendor notice of the adverse claim (litem denunciare) and to pray his aid in defence of the action. (Dig. 21, 2, de evictionibus et duplae stipulatione; K. O. Müller, Die Lehre von der Eviction, Part 1, Halle, 1851; Bekker, Zur Lehre von der Eviclionsleistung, Jahrbuch der Gemein. Rechts, vi. pp. 229-336; Windscheid, Pandektenlehrbuch, § § 391, 392; Brinz, Lehrbuch, vol. 2.281; cf. Holtzendorff's Rechtslexicon, ,s. v. Entwahrung. )

[J.B.M]