Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §18.3.6.pr-18.3.6.2

Retention of Earnest Money and Waiver of Forfeiture Clause

Passage 2695 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Explains the application of the forfeiture clause (lex commissoria), including the retention of earnest money by the seller upon the buyer's default, and the principle that accepting partial payment after the due date constitutes a waiver of the clause.

[SCAEUOLA libro secundo responsorum. ] §18.3.6.prDe lege commissoria interrogatus ita respondit, si per emptorem factum sit, quo minus legi pareretur, et ea lege uti uenditor uelit, fundos inemptos fore et id, quod arrae uel alio nomine datum esset, apud uenditorem remansurum.
[SCAEVOLA, Responses, book 2.] Being consulted concerning the forfeiture clause (lex commissoria), he replied that if it were due to the buyer that the agreement was not complied with, and the seller wished to avail himself of that clause, the tracts of land would be unsold, and what had been given as earnest-money or under any other name would remain with the seller.
§18.3.6.1Idem respondit, si ex lege inempti sint fundi, nec id, quod accessurum dictum est, emptori deberi.
He also replied that if the tracts of land became unsold according to the clause, even that which was declared to be an accessory was not owed to the buyer.
§18.3.6.2Post diem lege commissoria comprehensum uenditor partem reliquae pecuniae accepit.
After the date included in the forfeiture clause, the seller accepted a part of the remaining money.
respondit, si post statutum diem reliquae pecuniae uenditor legem dictam non exercuisset et partem reliqui debiti accepisset, uideri recessum a commissoria.
He replied that if, after the appointed day for the remaining money, the seller had not enforced the declared clause and had accepted a part of the remaining debt, he was deemed to have receded from the forfeiture clause.

Notes

  1. §18.3.6.prsi per emptorem factum sit, quo minus legi pareretur — The idiomatic construction 'per aliquem fieri quo minus...' means 'to be due to someone that something is not done'. 'pareretur' is passive (or impersonal passive), meaning that the 'lex' (agreement/clause) was not complied with.
  2. §18.3.6.1accessurum dictum est — 'accessurum' is a future active infinitive with the auxiliary 'esse' omitted (accessurum esse). Together with the relative pronoun 'quod', it forms the subject of 'dictum est', meaning 'that which was declared/agreed to be added as an accessory'.
  3. §18.3.6.2uideri recessum a commissoria — The infinitive 'recessum [esse]', which serves as the complement of 'uideri' (to seem / to be deemed), is the impersonal perfect passive of the intransitive verb 'recedo', meaning 'it is deemed that a withdrawal [by the seller or by mutual consent] from the forfeiture clause has taken place'.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §18.3.6.pr-18.3.6.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:18.3.6.pr-18.3.6.2

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.