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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §13.7.39.pr

Witnessing Creditor's Will and Rights to Pledge

Passage 2177 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Modestinus answers that the debtor's signing as a witness to the creditor's will, in which the creditor falsely declared to have purchased the pledged property, does not prejudice the existing contract of pledge.

[IDEM libro quarto responsorum. ] §13.7.39.prGaius Seius ob pecuniam mutuam fundum suum Lucio Titio pignori dedit: postea pactum inter eos factum est, ut creditor pignus suum in conpensationem pecuniae suae certo tempore possideret: uerum ante expletum tempus creditor cum suprema sua ordinaret, testamento cauit, ut alter ex filiis suis haberet eum fundum et addidit 'quem de Lucio Titio emi', cum non emisset: hoc testamentum inter ceteros signauit et Gaius Seius, qui fuit debitor.
[THE SAME, in his Fourth Book of Responses.] Gaius Seius gave his land as a pledge to Lucius Titius for a loan of money; afterwards an agreement was made between them that the creditor should possess his pledge for a certain time in satisfaction of his debt. But before the time had expired, the creditor, when he was arranging his last affairs, provided by will that one of his sons should have that land, and added "which I bought from Lucius Titius", although he had not bought it. This will was signed, among others, also by Gaius Seius, who was the debtor.
quaero, an ex hoc quod signauit praeiudicium aliquod sibi fecerit, cum nullum instrumentum uenditionis proferatur, sed solum pactum, ut creditor certi temporis fructus caperet.
I ask whether, from the fact that he signed it, he has done himself any prejudice, seeing that no instrument of sale is produced, but only the agreement that the creditor should take the fruits for a certain time.
Herennius Modestinus respondit contractui pignoris non obesse, quod debitor testamento creditoris, in quo se emisse pignus expressit, signasse proponitur.
Herennius Modestinus answered that the fact that the debtor is stated to have signed the will of the creditor, in which the latter expressed that he had bought the pledge, does not prejudice the contract of pledge.

Notes

  1. §13.7.39.prLucio Titio — The name of the creditor who made the will is Lucius Titius. Thus, his statement in the will 'which I bought from Lucius Titius' (de Lucio Titio emi) is logically contradictory. It should contextually read 'from Gaius Seius' (de Gaio Seio), the owner and debtor of the land. This is likely a scribal error in the manuscript transmission or a confusion in the formulation of the case, but the translation follows the transmitted text.
  2. §13.7.39.prquod debitor testamento creditoris, in quo se emisse pignus expressit, signasse proponitur — This is a noun clause introduced by `quod`, serving as the subject of the impersonal phrase `non obesse` (does not prejudice/hinder) in the main clause. The verb `proponitur` (it is proposed/stated) is a formulaic expression used by Roman jurists to indicate the factual premises of the query they are answering.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §13.7.39.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:13.7.39.pr

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