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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §17.1.3.pr-17.1.3.2

Mandate to Purchase: Specified Price and Availability of Actions

Passage 2442 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Paulus discusses the principle regarding changes in the legal position of parties in a mandate, and addresses the existence of actions in a mandate to purchase when no price is specified versus when the purchase is made at a higher price than specified.

[PAULUS libro trigensimo secundo ad edictum. ] §17.1.3.prPraeterea in causa mandati etiam illud uertitur, ut interim nec melior causa mandantis fieri possit, interdum melior, deterior uero numquam.
[PAULUS in the thirty-second book on the Edict.] Furthermore, in the matter of mandate this point also is involved, that sometimes the position of the mandator cannot be made better, sometimes it can be made better, but indeed never worse.
§17.1.3.1Et quidem si mandaui tibi, ut aliquam rem mihi emeres, nec de pretio quicquam statui tuque emisti, utrimque actio nascitur.
And indeed, if I commissioned you to buy a certain thing for me, and I did not fix anything as to the price, and you bought it, an action arises on both sides.
§17.1.3.2Quod si pretium statui tuque pluris emisti, quidam negauerunt te mandati habere actionem, etiamsi paratus esses id quod excedit remittere: namque iniquum est non esse mihi cum illo actionem, si nolit, illi uero, si uelit, mecum esse.
But if I fixed a price and you bought it for more, some have denied that you have an action on the mandate, even if you were prepared to remit the excess; for indeed it is unfair that I should not have an action against him if he is unwilling, but that he, if he is willing, should have one against me.

Notes

  1. §17.1.3.prillud uertitur, ut — The demonstrative pronoun `illud` anticipates the following `ut` clause (a noun clause with the subjunctive `possit`), standing in apposition to it. `uertitur` is used passively meaning "is a matter of dispute" or "is involved."
  2. §17.1.3.2non esse mihi cum illo actionem, si nolit, illi uero, si uelit, mecum esse — Two accusative with infinitive (A.C.I.) constructions stand in parallel as the subject of the impersonal expression `iniquum est` (it is unfair). In the second part (`illi uero, si uelit, mecum esse`), `actionem` from the first part is omitted as the shared subject accusative of the infinitive. `mihi` and `mecum` refer to the mandator (me), while `illo` and `illi` refer to the mandatary (him); both employ the dative of possession (`mihi esse`, `illi esse`) to mean "I have an action" and "he has an action."

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §17.1.3.pr-17.1.3.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:17.1.3.pr-17.1.3.2

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