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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §12.6.59.pr

Mistaken Payments by Discharged Guarantor and Debtor

Passage 2035 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Explains that a legally discharged guarantor who pays by mistake can recover the payment, but if the principal debtor subsequently pays by mistake, they cannot recover it, as the prior void payment did not extinguish the obligation.

[IDEM libro secundo definitionum. ] §12.6.59.prSi fideiussor iure liberatus soluerit errore pecuniam, repetenti non oberit: si uero reus promittendi per errorem et ipse postea pecuniam soluerit, non repetet, cum prior solutio, quae fuit irrita, naturale uinculum non dissoluit, nec ciuile, si reus promittendi tenebatur.
[THE SAME, in the second book of Definitions.] If a guarantor who has been legally discharged should pay money by mistake, it will not prevent him from recovering it; but if the principal debtor himself should also subsequently pay the money by mistake, he will not recover it, since the prior payment, which was void, did not dissolve the natural obligation, nor the civil obligation if the principal debtor was bound.

Notes

  1. 12.6.59.prrepetenti — The dative singular of the present participle `repetens` (one who seeks recovery), serving as the complement of the future verb `oberit` (from `obsum`, to stand in the way, hinder). It means that recovery is permitted for the party who paid.
  2. 12.6.59.prreus promittendi — A technical term in Roman law referring to the "promising party," i.e., the principal debtor, as opposed to the guarantor (`fideiussor`).
  3. 12.6.59.prcum ... non dissoluit — The conjunction `cum` is used with the indicative perfect (`dissoluit`) to introduce an objective fact as the definite reason ("since" or "because").
  4. 12.6.59.prnec ciuile, si reus promittendi tenebatur — The verb `dissoluit` is understood after `nec ciuile`, completing the clause as `nec ciuile uinculum dissoluit` (nor did it dissolve the civil obligation). The conditional clause `si...` modifies this negative statement.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §12.6.59.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:12.6.59.pr

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