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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §23.3.38.pr

Wife's Mandate to Release Debt and Set-Off against Dowry

Passage 3412 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Ulpian discusses whether a woman who orders a release of debt is obligated to her husband on a mandate, how this obligation converts into a dowry, and why she must offset her own order when suing for the dowry.

[ULPIANUS libro quadragesimo octauo ad Sabinum. ] §23.3.38.prSane uidendum est, an marito mulier, quae iussit accepto ferri, obligetur.
[ULPIANUS in the forty-eighth book on Sabinus.] Indeed, it must be considered whether the woman, who ordered the receipt to be entered, is obligated to her husband.
et putem obligari mandati actione et hoc ipsum in dotem conuerti, quod mulier mandati iudicio obligata est.
And I should think that she is obligated by the action on mandate, and that this very fact, that the woman is obligated by the action on mandate, is converted into a dowry.
et quod dicitur rem mulieri perire, consequens est: nam si coeperit uelle de dote agere, ipsa secum debebit compensare iussum suum.
And what is said, that the thing is lost to the woman, is a logical consequence; for if she begins to wish to sue for the dowry, she herself must compensate with herself for her own order.

Notes

  1. §23.3.38.praccepto ferri — The passive present infinitive of accepto ferre (to enter as received, to release a debt). In this context, the debt of the husband's debtor is understood as the subject of the infinitive, or it is used impersonally.
  2. §23.3.38.prhoc ipsum ... quod mulier mandati iudicio obligata est — The demonstrative hoc ipsum refers to the following factual quod-clause (quod ... obligata est) and serves as the subject of conuerti (accusative with infinitive). Together, they express 'this very fact, that the woman is obligated by the action on mandate'.
  3. §23.3.38.prsecum debebit compensare — secum ('with herself') indicates that when the woman sues for the return of her dowry (de dote agere), she must offset (compensare) her own claim by deducting the liability on the mandate (iussum suum) that she owes to her husband.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §23.3.38.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:23.3.38.pr

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