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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §12.6.6.pr-12.6.6.3

Undue Payment by Agents or Guardians and Ratification

Passage 1981 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Discusses the opinions of jurists Labeo, Celsus, and Julian on the conditions for recovering undue payments and the necessity of ratification when agents or guardians make or receive such payments.

[PAULUS libro tertio ad Sabinum. ] §12.6.6.prSi procurator tuus indebitum soluerit et tu ratum non habeas, posse repeti Labeo libris posteriorum scripsit: quod si debitum fuisset, non posse repeti Celsus: ideo, quoniam, cum quis procuratorem rerum suarum constituit, id quoque mandare uidetur, ut soluat creditori, neque postea exspectandum sit, ut ratum habeat.
[PAULUS, On Sabinus, book 3.] If your agent has paid what is not due and you do not ratify it, Labeo wrote in his posthumous books that it can be recovered; but if it was a debt, Celsus says it cannot be recovered. For this reason, because when anyone appoints an agent for his affairs, he is also deemed to mandate this, that he pay the creditor, and one should not afterwards wait for him to ratify it.
§12.6.6.1Idem Labeo ait, si procuratori indebitum solutum sit et dominus ratum non habeat, posse repeti.
The same Labeo says that if what is not due is paid to an agent and the principal does not ratify it, it can be recovered.
§12.6.6.2Celsus ait eum, qui procuratori debitum soluit, continuo liberari neque ratihabitionem considerari: quod si indebitum acceperit, ideo exigi ratihabitionem, quoniam nihil de hoc nomine exigendo mandasse uideretur, et ideo, si ratum non habeatur, a procuratore repetendum.
Celsus says that he who pays a debt to an agent is immediately discharged, and ratification is not considered; but if the agent has received what is not due, ratification is required for this reason, because the principal is deemed to have mandated nothing regarding the collection of this claim, and therefore, if it is not ratified, it must be recovered from the agent.
§12.6.6.3Iulianus ait neque tutorem neque procuratorem soluentes repetere posse neque interesse, suam pecuniam an pupilli uel domini soluant.
Julian says that neither a guardian nor an agent, when they pay, can claim recovery, and it makes no difference whether they pay their own money or that of the ward or principal.

Notes

  1. §12.6.6.prCelsus — After Celsus, a main verb such as scripsit or ait is omitted, corresponding to Labeo ... scripsit in the preceding clause.
  2. §12.6.6.2acceperit — The subject of the conditional clause si indebitum acceperit (if he has received what is not due) is the agent (procurator), whereas the subject of the subsequent mandasse (had mandated) is the principal (dominus). The shift of subjects is implicit.
  3. §12.6.6.2a procuratore repetendum — The gerundive phrase takes the prepositional phrase a procuratore (from the agent) to indicate the source of recovery, meaning 'it must be claimed back from the agent', showing that the claim is to be made against the agent rather than the principal.
  4. §12.6.6.3soluentes — The present participle soluentes modifies the subjects tutorem and procuratorem, functioning adverbially to denote time ('when they pay') or condition ('if they pay').

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §12.6.6.pr-12.6.6.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:12.6.6.pr-12.6.6.3

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