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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §2.11.6.pr

Absence of the Principal on State Business and the Surety

Passage 333 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This section addresses the injustice of holding a surety bound to present the principal debtor when the debtor himself was absent on public business and therefore excused from appearing.

[GAIUS libro primo ad legem duodecim tabularum. ] §2.11.6.prSi is qui fideiussorem dedit ideo non steterit, quod rei publicae causa afuit: iniquum est fideiussorem ob alium necessitate sistendi obligatum esse, cum ipsi liberum esset non sistere.
[GAIUS, in the first book on the Law of the Twelve Tables.] If he who has provided a surety did not appear in court for the reason that he was absent on public business, it is unjust that the surety should be bound by the necessity of presenting him on account of another, when it was permitted to the principal himself not to appear.

Notes

  1. §2.11.6.pripsi — The dative pronoun `ipsi` refers back to the subject `is qui fideiussorem dedit` (the principal debtor who provided the surety) and functions as the dative of reference with the impersonal expression `liberum esset` ("it was permitted to him").
  2. §2.11.6.prnecessitate sistendi — The genitive of the gerund `sistendi` modifies the noun `necessitate`. In the context of a surety (`fideiussor`), `sistere` is understood transitively as "to present" or "to make [the principal] appear in court," hence "the necessity of presenting [him]."

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §2.11.6.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:2.11.6.pr

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