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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §18.6.18.pr

Buyer's Default and Liability Reduction in Mutual Delay

Passage 2751 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Discusses that when the buyer is in default, the seller's liability is reduced to fraud only, and that in cases of mutual default, the party who is in subsequent default should bear the detriment.

[POMPONIUS libro trigesimo primo ad Quintum Mucium. ] §18.6.18.prIllud sciendum est, cum moram emptor adhibere coepit, iam non culpam, sed dolum malum tantum praestandum a uenditore.
[POMPONIUS in the thirty-first book to Quintus Mucius.] It must be known that, when the buyer has begun to be in default, the seller is now liable not for negligence, but for fraud only.
quod si per uenditorem et emptorem mora fuerit, Labeo quidem scribit emptori potius nocere quam uenditori moram adhibitam, sed uidendum est, ne posterior mora damnosa ei sit.
But if there has been default on the part of both the seller and the buyer, Labeo indeed writes that the default caused hurts the buyer rather than the seller, but it must be considered whether the subsequent default should not be damaging to him.
quid enim si interpellauero uenditorem et non dederit id quod emeram, deinde postea offerente illo ego non acceperim? sane hoc casu nocere mihi deberet.
For what if I have summoned the seller and he did not deliver what I had bought, and then afterwards, when he made an offer, I did not accept it? Assuredly, in this case, it ought to be to my detriment.
sed si per emptorem mora fuisset, deinde, cum omnia in integro essent, uenditor moram adhibuerit, cum posset se exsoluere, aequum est posteriorem moram uenditori nocere.
But if there had been default on the part of the buyer, and then, while everything was still unimpaired, the seller was in default, although he could have discharged his obligation, it is equitable that the subsequent default should be to the detriment of the seller.

Notes

  1. §18.6.18.prIllud sciendum est ... praestandum — The gerundive construction iam non culpam, sed dolum malum tantum praestandum [esse] functions as the subject accusative clause dependent on sciendum est, with the infinitive esse being omitted.
  2. §18.6.18.prLabeo quidem scribit emptori potius nocere quam uenditori moram adhibitam — An accusative with infinitive construction dependent on scribit. moram adhibitam (the default that occurred) is the subject accusative of the infinitive nocere, while emptori and uenditori are the datives governed by nocere. potius ... quam ... expresses comparison.
  3. §18.6.18.pruidendum est, ne posterior mora damnosa ei sit — The ne clause following uidendum est expresses a concern or a question to be considered ('whether ... not'). In this context, ei refers to the party who is responsible for the subsequent default.
  4. §18.6.18.prcum omnia in integro essent — The phrase in integro is a legal idiom meaning 'unimpaired' or 'in the original state,' indicating that no change has occurred to alter the legal or factual situation.
  5. §18.6.18.prcum posset se exsoluere — cum is used here in a concessive or circumstantial sense ('although' or 'when'). se exsoluere literally means 'to release oneself,' but in a legal context, it means 'to discharge oneself from an obligation' (i.e., to perform).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §18.6.18.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:18.6.18.pr

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