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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §23.4.5.pr-23.4.5.2

Invalidity of Pacts Excluding Dowry-Related Actions

Passage 3464 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Paulus argues that agreements to exclude or alter actions concerning conduct, gifts or removed property, and necessary expenses in the return of a dowry are invalid because they run counter to public order and the law.

[PAULUS libro septimo ad Sabinum. ] §23.4.5.prIllud conuenire non potest, ne de moribus agatur uel plus uel minus exigatur, ne publica coercitio priuata pactione tollatur.
[PAULUS from the seventh book on Sabinus.] It is not possible to agree on this: that no action should be brought regarding conduct, or that more or less should be demanded, lest public enforcement be undone by private agreement.
§23.4.5.1Ac ne illa quidem pacta seruanda sunt, ne ob res donatas uel amotas ageretur, quia altero pacto ad furandum mulieres inuitantur, altero ius ciuile impugnatur.
And indeed, not even those pacts are to be observed, that no action should be brought on account of things donated or removed, because by the one pact women are invited to steal, and by the other the civil law is assailed.
§23.4.5.2Et si conuenerit, ne ob impensas necessarias ageretur, pactum non est seruandum, quia tales impensae dotem ipso iure minuunt.
And if it has been agreed that no action should be brought on account of necessary expenses, the pact is not to be observed, because such expenses diminish the dowry by operation of law.

Notes

  1. §23.4.5.prIllud conuenire non potest, ne de moribus agatur — The pronoun 'illud' anticipates (prolepsis) the following noun clause introduced by 'ne' ('ne de moribus agatur' etc.), which functions as the substantial subject of the impersonal verb phrase 'potest conuenire'.
  2. §23.4.5.1quia altero pacto ad furandum mulieres inuitantur, altero ius ciuile impugnatur — The two instances of 'altero' (the one pact... the other...) refer in a chiastic (or reverse) order to the preceding 'res donatas' (things donated) and 'res amotas' (things removed). The first 'altero' (pact inviting women to steal) refers to the latter 'res amotas' (not suing for removed property), while the second 'altero' (pact assailing the civil law) refers to the former 'res donatas' (violating the civil law rule prohibiting gifts between spouses).
  3. §23.4.5.2quia tales impensae dotem ipso iure minuunt — The phrase 'ipso iure' (by operation of law) means that necessary expenses are automatically deducted from the amount of the dowry to be returned by the very fact of their expenditure, without requiring judicial discretion or a separate claim. Therefore, a pact not to bring an action for them is deemed superfluous or legally ineffective and is not to be observed.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §23.4.5.pr-23.4.5.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:23.4.5.pr-23.4.5.2

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