'Reversio in potestatem' delle res furtivae e 'furtum suae rei' nel pensiero del giurista Paolo

Abstract

[‘Reversio in potestatem’ of res furtivae and ‘furtum suae rei’ in jurist Paulus’s work] In Roman law stolen property was considered non usucaptionable unless it had been returned in the actual control (potestas) of the owner, as explicitly laid down in the Atinian law of the second century BC. According to the jurists reversio means the - not necessarily material - recovery of the res by the owner, even if the robbed person is different from the owner. However as the sources show, there was a debate ongoing among jurists as concerns the kind of reversio when it was the dominus himself who had committed the act (cd. furtum suae rei). The reflections of the Severian jurist Paulus were particularly authoritative.  Even today there is a wide debate on the robbery of property in the doctrine and the decisions of the courts. And it is no accident that Article 624 of the penal code links robbery to the appropriation of somebody else's movable.