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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §18.3.1.pr

Resolutive Nature of Sales with Forfeiture Clauses

Passage 2690 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This text states that when land is sold with a forfeiture clause (lex commissoria), the sale should be interpreted as being subject to a resolutive condition (dissolved under a condition) rather than a suspensive condition (contracted under a condition).

[ULPIANUS libro uicensimo octauo ad Sabinum. ] §18.3.1.prSi fundus commissoria lege uenierit, magis est, ut sub condicione resolui emptio quam sub condicione contrahi uideatur.
[ULPIAN, On Sabinus, book 28.] If land is sold with a forfeiture clause, it is more correct that the sale should be deemed to be dissolved under a condition rather than contracted under a condition.

Notes

  1. §18.3.1.prmagis est, ut... uideatur — An impersonal expression 'magis est' combined with 'ut' and the subjunctive 'uideatur', which idiomatically expresses that 'it is more correct/preferable that it should be deemed...'.
  2. §18.3.1.prsub condicione resolui... quam sub condicione contrahi — The comparison between the two passive infinitives 'resolui' (to be dissolved) and 'contrahi' (to be contracted) corresponds to the distinction between a resolutive condition and a suspensive condition in Roman law. This clause specifies that a sale with a forfeiture clause (lex commissoria) should be treated as subject to a resolutive condition (immediate effect but subject to dissolution).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §18.3.1.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:18.3.1.pr

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