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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §17.2.14.pr

Agreements on Non-Division and Just Cause for Renunciation

Passage 2516 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

A discussion that an agreement not to divide common property does not imply a prohibition on withdrawing from the partnership, and that even if there is an agreement not to withdraw for a certain period, a withdrawal is justified if there is a good cause, exempting the partner from liability under the action on partnership.

[ULPIANUS libro trigesimo ad Sabinum. ] §17.2.14.prSi conuenerit inter socios, ne intra certum tempus communis res diuidatur, non uidetur conuenisse, ne societate abeatur.
[ULPIAN in his thirtieth book on Sabinus] If it has been agreed among partners that common property shall not be divided within a certain time, it does not seem to have been agreed that there shall be no withdrawal from the partnership.
quid tamen si hoc conuenit, ne abeatur, an ualeat? eleganter Pomponius scripsit frustra hoc conuenire: nam et si non conuenit, si tamen intempestiue renuntietur societati, esse pro socio actionem.
But what if it is agreed that there shall be no withdrawal, would this be valid? Pomponius wrote elegantly that such an agreement is to no purpose; for even if there is no such agreement, yet if the partnership is renounced unseasonably, there is an action on the partnership.
sed et si conuenit, ne intra certum tempus societate abeatur, et ante tempus renuntietur, potest rationem habere renuntiatio.
But even if it has been agreed that there shall be no withdrawal from the partnership within a certain time, and it is renounced before that time, the renunciation can have a valid reason.
nec tenebitur pro socio qui ideo renuntiauit, quia condicio quaedam, qua societas erat coita, ei non praestatur: aut quid si ita iniuriosus et damnosus socius sit, ut non expediat eum pati?
Nor will he be held liable under the action on the partnership who renounced for the reason that some condition, under which the partnership was contracted, is not being performed for him; or what if a partner is so injurious and damaging that it is not expedient to tolerate him?

Notes

  1. §17.2.14.prsocietate abeatur — The passive third-person singular of the intransitive verb abire is used impersonally, meaning "to withdraw from the partnership." societate is an ablative of separation.
  2. §17.2.14.presse pro socio actionem — Continuation of the indirect discourse (accusative with infinitive construction) governed by scripsit. Following the subordinate clause starting with nam, esse (infinitive) and actionem (subject accusative) form the main clause of the indirect speech.
  3. §17.2.14.prquid si — An idiomatic interrogative expression meaning "what if..." or "what would happen if...". The omission of a verb such as fiat is assumed after quid.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §17.2.14.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:17.2.14.pr

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