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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §22.3.9.pr

Burden of Proof That an Agreement Excludes Heirs

Passage 3227 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Concerning an agreement where the heir is not mentioned, it is argued from the perspective of standard contract practice that the burden of proving whether its effect was limited only to the party himself lies with the plaintiff, not the defendant.

[CELSUS libro primo digestorum. ] §22.3.9.prSi pactum factum sit, in quo heredis mentio non fiat, quaeritur, an id actum sit, ut ipsius dumtaxat persona eo statueretur.
[CELSUS, in the first book of the Digests.] If an agreement is made in which no mention of the heir is made, the question arises whether it was intended that only the person of the contracting party himself should be determined by it.
Sed quamuis uerum est, quod qui excipit probare debeat quod excipitur, attamen de ipso dumtaxat ac non de herede eius quoque conuenisse petitor, non qui excipit probare debet, quia plerumque tam heredibus nostris quam nobismet ipsis cauemus.
But although it is true that he who raises an objection must prove the matter of the objection, nevertheless, it is the plaintiff, and not he who raises the objection, who must prove that the agreement applied only to the party himself and not to his heir as well, because we generally make provision as much for our heirs as for ourselves.

Notes

  1. §22.3.9.prid actum sit, ut — The verb agere combined with an ut-clause means 'to intend' or 'to aim that...'. Its passive form id actum sit thus means 'it was intended that...'.
  2. §22.3.9.prde ipso dumtaxat ac non de herede eius quoque conuenisse — conuenisse (from conuenio) is an impersonal infinitive phrase meaning 'that an agreement had been reached,' serving as the object of the main verb probare.
  3. §22.3.9.prpetitor, non qui excipit probare debet — The structural skeleton of the main clause, where petitor is the subject of probare debet (must prove), while the contrasting phrase non qui excipit (not he who raises the objection) shares the same omitted verb probare debet.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §22.3.9.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:22.3.9.pr

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