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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §13.4.10.pr

Partial Payment and Remission of Penalties in Arbitrary Actions

Passage 2083 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Paulus discusses the effect of partial payment on the entire obligation after a surety has been accepted in an action with an arbitration clause due to delay in paying at Capua, arguing that by accepting the payment, the creditor is deemed to have remitted the penalty.

[PAULUS libro quarto quaestionum. ] §13.4.10.prSi post moram factam, quo minus Capuae solueretur, cum arbitraria uellet agere, fideiussor acceptus sit eius actionis nomine, uideamus, ne ea pecunia, quae ex sententia iudicis accedere potest, non debeatur nec sit in obligatione, adeo ut nunc quoque sorte soluta uel si Capuae petatur, arbitrium iudicis cesset: nisi si quis dicat, si iudex centum et uiginti condemnare debuerit, centum solutis ex uniuersitate, tam ex sorte quam ex poena solutum uideri, ut supersit petitio eius quod excedit sortem, et accedat poena pro eadem quantitate.
[PAULUS from the fourth book of Questions.] If, after delay was made preventing payment at Capua, when the creditor wished to bring an action with an arbitration clause, a surety was accepted on account of that action, let us consider whether that money which can be added by the decision of the judge is not owed and does not form part of the obligation, so much so that now, even if the principal is paid or if the claim is made at Capua, the arbitration of the judge ceases: unless indeed someone should say that, if the judge ought to have condemned in one hundred and twenty, when one hundred is paid out of the total, it is deemed to have been paid both from the principal and from the penalty, so that there remains a claim for that which exceeds the principal, and the penalty is added in proportion to that same amount.
quod non puto admittendum, tanto magis, quod creditor accipiendo pecuniam etiam remississe poenam uidetur.
This I do not think should be admitted, all the more because the creditor, by accepting the money, is deemed also to have remitted the penalty.

Notes

  1. §13.4.10.pruideamus, ne — The construction uideamus ne followed by the subjunctive (here non debeatur) is used to express a tentative opinion or consideration: "let us see whether ... not" or "perhaps ... is not."
  2. §13.4.10.prarbitraria — The feminine singular ablative noun actione is understood. The phrase arbitraria agere refers to bringing an actio arbitraria, specifically the actio de eo quod certo loco, where the judge has the discretion (arbitrium) to assess the difference in value caused by the change of the place of performance.
  3. §13.4.10.prcentum solutis ex uniuersitate — Meaning "one hundred having been paid out of the total." It refers to a partial payment of 100 when the total debt is 120 (100 principal and 20 penalty). The text discusses a hypothetical view where this payment is imputed proportionally (pro rata) to both the principal and the penalty.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §13.4.10.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:13.4.10.pr

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