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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §17.2.33.pr

Distinction of Joint Purchase and Liability of a Ward

Passage 2535 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This section explains that joint purchases and leases are distinct from partnerships, and notes that while a ward is not bound by a partnership entered into without a tutor's authority, they remain liable for acts done in common.

[IDEM libro trigensimo primo ad edictum. ] §17.2.33.prut in conductionibus publicorum, item in emptionibus: nam qui nolunt inter se contendere, solent per nuntium rem emere in commune, quod a societate longe remotum est.
[THE SAME in his thirty-first book on the edict] as in the leasing of public contracts, and likewise in purchases: for those who do not wish to bid against one another are accustomed to buy a property in common through a messenger, which is far removed from a partnership.
et ideo societate sine tutoris auctoritate coita pupillus non tenetur, attamen communiter gesto tenetur.
And therefore, if a partnership is entered into without the authority of a tutor, a ward is not bound, but nevertheless he is bound by what is done in common.

Notes

  1. §17.2.33.prconductionibus publicorum — The genitive plural of the neuter noun publicorum (public revenues or contracts) is governed by conductionibus (leasings, hirings). It refers to transactions such as the leasing of public revenues by tax farmers (publicani).
  2. §17.2.33.prsocietate sine tutoris auctoritate coita — An ablative absolute construction formed by the noun societate and the perfect participle coita, expressing a conditional circumstance ("if a partnership is entered into").
  3. §17.2.33.prcommuniter gesto — The ablative of the substantivized neuter singular participle ("what has been done in common"), functioning as an ablative of cause or means modifying the passive verb tenetur. It implies that even if no partnership contract (societas) is formed, quasi-contractual liability arises from the joint transaction (communio).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §17.2.33.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:17.2.33.pr

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