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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §13.5.18.pr-13.5.18.3

Interpretation of the Edict and Underlying Debt Duration

Passage 2101 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Discusses the interpretation of the phrase 'not due to the plaintiff' in the praetor's edict, the duration of the underlying debt required for a promise (constitutum), and the nature of the action on a promise and its discharge by payment.

[ULPIANUS libro uicensimo septimo ad edictum. ] §13.5.18.prItem illa uerba praetoris 'neque per actorem stetisse' eandem recipiunt dubitationem.
[ULPIANUS, from the twenty-seventh book on the Edict.] Likewise, those words of the praetor 'nor had it been due to the plaintiff' admit the same doubt.
et Pomponius dubitat, si forte ad diem constituti per actorem non steterit, ante stetit uel postea.
And Pomponius doubts whether, if by chance on the day of the promise it was not due to the plaintiff, it was so before or afterwards.
et puto et haec ad diem constituti referenda.
And I think that these words also must be referred to the day of the promise.
proinde si ualetudine impeditus aut ui aut tempestate petitor non uenit, ipsi nocere Pomponius scribit.
Consequently, if the plaintiff, prevented by illness or by force or by a storm, did not come, Pomponius writes that it prejudices himself.
§13.5.18.1Quod adicitur 'eamque pecuniam cum constituebatur debitam fuisse', interpretationem pleniorem exigit.
The addition 'and that this money was due when the promise was made' requires a fuller interpretation.
nam primum illud efficit, ut, si quid tunc debitum fuit cum constitueretur, nunc non sit, nihilo minus teneat constitutum. quia retrorsum se actio refert.
For, in the first place, it brings it about that, if something was due when the promise was made, but is not due now, the promise is nevertheless binding; because the action looks backward.
proinde temporali actione obligatum constituendo Celsus et Iulianus scribunt teneri debere, licet post constitutum dies temporalis actionis exierit.
Consequently, Celsus and Julian write that a person bound by a temporary action must be held liable by making a promise, even though the period of the temporary action has expired after the promise.
quare et si post tempus obligationis se soluturum constituerit, adhuc idem Iulianus putat, quoniam eo tempore constituit, quo erat obligatio. licet in id tempus quo non tenebatur.
Therefore, even if he promised that he would pay after the period of the obligation, the same Julian still thinks [that he is bound], because he made the promise at that time when the obligation existed, even though for a time when he was not bound.
§13.5.18.2E re autem est hic subiungere, utrum poenam contineat haec actio an rei persecutionem: et magis est, ut etiam Marcellus putat, ut rei sit persecutio.
It is useful, moreover, to add here whether this action involves a penalty or the pursuit of the thing: and it is more correct, as Marcellus also thinks, that it is the pursuit of the thing.
§13.5.18.3Vetus fuit dubitatio, an qui hac actione egit sortis obligationem consumat.
There was an old doubt whether he who sued under this action consumes the obligation for the principal sum.
et tutius est dicere solutione potius ex hac actione facta liberationem contingere, non litis contestatione, quoniam solutio ad utramque obligationem proficit.
And it is safer to say that release occurs rather by payment made under this action, not by joinder of issue (litis contestatio), since payment is of benefit to both obligations.

Notes

  1. §13.5.18.prneque per actorem stetisse — The phrase stare per aliquem means 'to be due to someone' (as a cause of prevention), usually followed by a clause with quominus or ne, but here used absolutely or with the implied context of non-performance or delay. 'neque' negates this, indicating that there was no cause of non-performance attributable to the plaintiff.
  2. §13.5.18.prante stetit uel postea — stetit, like the preceding non steterit, stands for stare per actorem. The conjunction si is understood from the preceding clause, forming an indirect question depending on dubitat: 'whether... it was so [due to the plaintiff] before or afterwards'.
  3. §13.5.18.1temporali actione obligatum constituendo — constituendo is the ablative of the gerund, expressing means ('by making a promise'). temporali actione obligatum is the accusative noun phrase serving as the subject of the infinitive teneri debere, meaning 'one who is bound by a temporary action'.
  4. §13.5.18.1licet in id tempus quo non tenebatur — The verb constituerit is understood after licet: 'even though he made the promise for that time (i.e., after the expiration of the temporary action) when he was no longer bound'.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §13.5.18.pr-13.5.18.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:13.5.18.pr-13.5.18.3

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