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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §16.1.13.pr-16.1.13.2

Assumption of One's Own Debt and Restored Actions

Passage 2359 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

The text lists exceptional cases where a woman assumes a debt that is substantively her own, rendering the senatusconsultum inapplicable, and explains the creditor's remedies (quasi-Servian action, actio restitutoria) against the original debtor when her intercession is voided.

[GAIUS libro nono ad edictum prouinciale. ] §16.1.13.prAliquando, licet alienam obligationem suscipiat mulier, non adiuuatur hoc senatus consulto: quod tum accidit, cum prima facie quidem alienam, re uera autem suam obligationem suscipiat.
[GAIUS, On the Provincial Edict, book 9]\n\nSometimes, even if a woman assumes another's obligation, she is not assisted by this senatusconsultum; this happens when she assumes what is indeed on the face of it another's obligation, but in reality is her own.
ut ecce si ancilla ob pactionem libertatis expromissore dato post manumissionem id ipsum suscipiat quod expromissor debeat, aut si hereditatem emerit et aes alienum hereditarium in se transcribat, aut si pro fideiussore suo intercedat. §16.1.13.1De pignoribus prioris debitoris non est creditori noua actione opus, cum quasi Seruiana (quae et hypothecaria uocatur) in his utilis sit: quia uerum est conuenisse de pignoribus nec solutam esse pecuniam. §16.1.13.2Si sub condicione uel in diem mulier pro alio intercesserit, etiam pendente condicione uolenti creditori cum priore debitore experiri actio danda est restitutoria: quo enim bonum est exspectare condicionem uel diem, cum in ea causa sit prior iste debitor, ut omnimodo ipse debeat suscipere actionem?
For example, if a female slave, having provided a substitute debtor (expromissor) in connection with an agreement for her manumission, should after her manumission assume that very debt which the substitute debtor owes; or if she has bought an inheritance and transfers the hereditary debts onto herself; or if she intercedes on behalf of her own surety.\n\nConcerning the pledges of the prior debtor, the creditor has no need for a new action, since the quasi-Servian action (which is also called hypothecary) is available (utilis) in respect of these; for it is true that there was an agreement regarding the pledges and that the money has not been paid.\n\nIf a woman has interceded for another under a condition or for a specified day, even while the condition is pending, the restoring action (actio restitutoria) must be granted to a creditor who wishes to proceed against the prior debtor; for what is the use of waiting for the condition or the day, when that prior debtor is in such a position that he must by all means himself undergo the action?

Notes

  1. 16.1.13.prexpromissore dato — An ablative absolute construction consisting of a noun and a participle, meaning "a substitute debtor having been provided." It describes a sequential legal scenario where the female slave, while still in slavery and unable to bind herself, has someone else assume the debt, and later assumes it herself after her manumission.
  2. 16.1.13.2experiri — The present infinitive of the deponent verb experior ("to try, to go to law"). Here, construed with cum priore debitore ("with the prior debtor"), it is used intransitively to mean "to proceed legally, to bring an action." It specifies the desire of uolenti creditori ("to the creditor who wishes [to do so]"), to whom the actio restitutoria danda est ("must be granted").
  3. 16.1.13.2quo — An interrogative adverb or ablative pronoun ("whereby, for what"). Together with enim bonum est exspectare, it forms a rhetorical question: "for what benefit is there in waiting..." or "of what use is it to wait..."

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §16.1.13.pr-16.1.13.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:16.1.13.pr-16.1.13.2

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