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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §13.5.27.pr

Promise to Pay Another's Debt and Debtor's Consent

Passage 2110 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

The passage discusses whether the debtor's presence or consent affects the validity of a promised payment made by another, and whether a subsequent prohibition to pay by the debtor excuses the promisor.

[ULPIANUS libro quarto decimo ad edictum. ] §13.5.27.prUtrum praesente debitore an absente constituat quis, parui refert.
[ULPIAN, from the fourteenth book on the Edict.] Whether someone promises payment in the presence or absence of the debtor is of little importance.
hoc amplius etiam inuito constituere eum posse Pomponius libro trigensimo quarto scribit: unde falsam putat opinionem Labeonis existimantis, si, postquam quis constituit pro alio, dominus ei denuntiet ne soluat, in factum exceptionem dandam: nec immerito Pomponius: nam cum semel sit obligatus qui constituit, factum debitoris non debet eum excusare.
Furthermore, Pomponius writes in his thirty-fourth book that one can promise payment even against the will of the debtor; hence he considers incorrect the opinion of Labeo, who thinks that if, after someone has promised payment on behalf of another, the principal debtor should forbid him to pay, an exception in factum must be granted. And Pomponius is not without reason; for since he who promised has once become bound, the act of the debtor ought not to excuse him.

Notes

  1. §13.5.27.prpraesente debitore an absente — Ablative absolute constructions with the noun debitore (debtor). In the second part, debitore is omitted after absente. They are used within the alternative indirect question introduced by utrum... an... (whether... or...).
  2. §13.5.27.pretiam inuito — An ablative absolute construction with debitore omitted (etiam invito debitore), expressing a concessive meaning: "even against the will of the debtor."
  3. §13.5.27.prdominus — Here dominus does not mean "owner" or "master" in a general sense, but in this context refers to the "principal debtor" on whose behalf the promise of payment (constitutum) was made.
  4. §13.5.27.prin factum exceptionem dandam — An accusative with infinitive construction depending on existimantis, with esse omitted. dandam is a gerundive expressing obligation or necessity: "that an exception in factum must be granted."

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §13.5.27.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:13.5.27.pr

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