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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §20.6.12.pr-20.6.12.1

Consent to Subsequent Pledge and Debt Satisfaction by Possessors

Passage 3011 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

If a prior creditor consents to a debtor pledging the same property to a third creditor, they are deemed to have released their pledge, raising the rank of the intermediate creditor. Also, a pledgee seeking a thing is barred if any possessor offers to satisfy the debt.

[IDEM libro quinto responsorum. ] §20.6.12.prPaulus respondit Sempronium antiquiorem creditorem consentientem, cum debitor eandem rem tertio creditori obligaret, ius suum pignoris remississe uideri, non etiam tertium in locum eius successisse, et ideo medii creditoris meliorem causam effectam.
[IDEM libro quinto responsorum.] Paulus answered that the prior creditor Sempronius, by consenting when the debtor pledged the same thing to a third creditor, is deemed to have released his right of pledge, and that the third creditor did not succeed to his place, and therefore the position of the intermediate creditor was made better.
idem obseruandum est et si res publica tertio loco crediderit.
The same is to be observed even if the state has lent in the third place.
§20.6.12.1Qui pignoris iure rem persequuntur, a uindicatione rei eos remoueri solere, si qualiscumque possessor offerre uellet: neque enim debet quaeri de iure possessoris, cum ius petitoris remoueatur soluto pignore.
Those who pursue a thing by right of pledge are customarily barred from the vindication of the thing, if any possessor whatsoever is willing to offer payment; for indeed, there should be no inquiry into the right of the possessor, since the right of the claimant is removed upon the release of the pledge.

Notes

  1. §20.6.12.prmedii creditoris — When the first-rank creditor loses their pledge by consent, the second-rank (intermediate) creditor's rank is automatically elevated. Because the third-rank creditor does not directly succeed to the first-rank position, the intermediate creditor benefits (meliorem causam effectam), illustrating the Roman law principle of promotion in rank (successio in locum).
  2. §20.6.12.1offerre — Used intransitively, but in this context it means 'to offer (payment of the secured debt, or money equivalent to the value of the property)'. Consequently, not only the debtor but 'any possessor whatsoever' (qualiscumque possessor) can block the pledgee's action for recovery (uindicatio) by offering satisfaction.
  3. §20.6.12.1soluto pignore — An ablative absolute construction consisting of the noun pignus and the participle of soluere ('to discharge, extinguish [a debt, etc.]'). It means 'the pledge having been released', i.e., extinguished by payment of the secured debt. In this case, since the very foundation of the claimant's (petitor) action is removed, there is no need to inquire into the validity of the possessor's right (ius possessoris).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §20.6.12.pr-20.6.12.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:20.6.12.pr-20.6.12.1

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