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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §22.1.32.pr-22.1.32.5

Determination of Default and Its Legal Effects on Persons

Passage 3192 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

The text discusses how default (mora) arises as a matter of fact, and its legal effects and scope of influence concerning slaves, the father-son relationship, joint obligations, and guarantors.

[MARCIANUS libro quarto regularum. ] §22.1.32.prMora fieri intellegitur non ex re, sed ex persona, id est, si interpellatus oportuno loco non soluerit: quod apud iudicem examinabitur: nam, ut et Pomponius libro duodecimo epistularum scripsit, difficilis est huius rei definitio.
[MARCIANUS libro quarto regularum.] Default is understood to occur not from the thing itself, but from the person, that is, if one having been summoned in a suitable place has not paid; which matter shall be examined before the judge; for, as Pomponius also wrote in the twelfth book of his Epistles, the definition of this matter is difficult.
diuus quoque Pius Tullio Balbo rescripsit, an mora facta intellegatur, neque constitutione ulla neque iuris auctorum quaestione decidi posse, cum sit magis facti quam iuris.
The divine Pius also rescriped to Tullius Balbus that whether a default is understood to have occurred cannot be decided by any constitution nor by any inquiry of the authors of law, since it is a matter of fact rather than of law.
§22.1.32.1Et non sufficit ad probationem morae, si seruo debitoris absentis denuntiatum est a creditore procuratoreue eius, cum etiam si ipsi, inquit, domino denuntiatum est, ceterum postea cum is sui potestatem faceret, omissa esset repetendi debiti instantia, non protinus per debitorem mora facta intellegitur.
And it is not sufficient for the proof of default if notice has been given to the slave of an absent debtor by the creditor or his procurator; since even if, he says, notice was given to the master himself, but afterwards when he made himself available, the insistence on demanding the debt was omitted, default is not immediately understood to have occurred through the debtor.
§22.1.32.2In bonae fidei contractibus ex mora usurae debentur.
In contracts of good faith, interest is owed due to default.
§22.1.32.3Quid ergo: si et filius familias et pater ex persona eius teneatur (siue iussu eius contractum est siue in rem uersum est patris uel in peculium), cuius persona circa moram spectabitur? et si quidem pater dumtaxat conuenietur, ex mora sua non tenetur: in filium tamen dabitur actio in hoc, ut quod minus a patre actor consecutus est filius praestet: quod si filius moram fecerit, tunc actor uel cum ipso in solidum uel cum patre dumtaxat de peculio habebit.
What then: if both a son in power and his father are held liable on account of the son's person (whether the contract was made by the father's order, or turned to the profit of the father, or concerned the peculium), whose person shall be regarded in respect to default? And if indeed only the father is sued, he is not held liable on account of his own default; however, an action will be given against the son to the end that the son shall make good what the plaintiff has obtained less from the father. But if the son has committed default, then the plaintiff will have an action either against him for the whole, or against the father only to the extent of the peculium.
§22.1.32.4Sed si duo rei promittendi sint, alterius mora alteri non nocet.
But if there are two joint promisors, the default of one does not harm the other.
§22.1.32.5Item si fideiussor solus moram fecerit, non tenetur, sicuti si Stichum promissum occiderit: sed utilis actio in hunc dabitur.
Likewise, if the guarantor alone has committed default, he is not held liable, just as if he had killed the promised Stichus; but a useful action will be given against him.

Notes

  1. §22.1.32.prnon ex re, sed ex persona — That default arises 'from the person' (ex persona) means that an interpellation (demanding payment) by the creditor to the debtor is generally required. This contrasts with default arising 'from the thing itself' (ex re), which occurs automatically upon the expiration of a term without interpellation, indicating that in classical law, default was principally determined on a case-by-case factual basis.
  2. §22.1.32.1sui potestatem faceret — Literally 'to make power over oneself available', but in a legal context, it means that the debtor places himself in a position to meet the creditor or shows readiness to appear and submit to legal proceedings or performance. If the creditor then fails to pursue the demand, the default is cleared.
  3. §22.1.32.3ex mora sua non tenetur — The subject is pater (the father). Even when an action is brought against him based on the person (act) of the son, the father is not held liable for default unless he himself committed the default.
  4. §22.1.32.5utilis actio — If the guarantor alone commits default, liability for default does not immediately arise from the scope of the principal debt itself under strict civil law. However, a 'useful action' (utilis actio) is granted by the praetor based on equity and specific necessity.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §22.1.32.pr-22.1.32.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:22.1.32.pr-22.1.32.5

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