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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §26.8.9.pr-26.8.9.6

Acts Requiring Authorization and Tutor's Presence

Passage 3905 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

The passage enumerates transactions that a ward can perform without a tutor's authority (mere acquisition) and those they cannot (incurring obligations, alienation, payment, and inheritance), while establishing the principle of immediacy, which requires the tutor to grant authority in person during the transaction.

[GAIUS libro duodecimo ad edictum prouinciale. ] §26.8.9.prObligari ex omni contractu pupillus sine tutoris auctoritate non potest: adquirere autem sibi stipulando et per traditionem accipiendo etiam sine tutoris auctoritate potest: sed credendo obligare sibi non potest, quia sine tutoris auctoritate nihil alienare potest.
[GAIUS, in the twelfth book of his Commentary on the Provincial Edict.] A ward cannot incur an obligation under any contract without the authority of his tutor; but he can acquire for himself by stipulating and by receiving through delivery, even without the authority of his tutor; but he cannot bind someone to himself by advancing a loan, because he can alienate nothing without the authority of his tutor.
§26.8.9.1Ex hoc autem, quod pupillus nullam rem sine tutoris auctoritate alienare potest, apparet nec manumittere eum sine tutoris auctoritate posse.
Moreover, from the fact that a ward can alienate no property without the authority of his tutor, it is evident that he cannot manumit either without the authority of his tutor.
hoc amplius licet tutoris auctoritate manumittat, debet e lege Aelia Sentia apud consilium causam probare.
Furthermore, even if he manumits with the authority of his tutor, he must prove his case before the council in accordance with the Lex Aelia Sentia.
§26.8.9.2Pupillus ex omnibus causis soluendo sine tutoris auctoritate nihil agit, quia nullum dominium transferre potest: si tamen creditor bona fide pecuniam pupilli consumpserit, liberabitur pupillus.
A ward, by paying on any ground without the authority of his tutor, effects nothing, because he can transfer no ownership; if, however, the creditor has in good faith consumed the money of the ward, the ward will be released.
§26.8.9.3Hereditatem adire pupillus sine tutoris auctoritate non potest, quamuis lucrosa sit nec ullum habeat damnum.
A ward cannot enter upon an inheritance without the authority of his tutor, even though it is lucrative and involves no loss.
§26.8.9.4Nec ex senatus consulto Trebelliano hereditatem recipere pupillus sine tutoris auctoritate potest.
Nor can a ward receive an inheritance under the Senatus Consultum Trebellianum without the authority of his tutor.
§26.8.9.5Tutor statim in ipso negotio praesens debet auctor fieri, post tempus uero aut per epistulam interposita eius auctoritas nihil agit.
A tutor must grant his authority immediately in person during the transaction itself; authority interposed afterwards or by letter effects nothing.
§26.8.9.6Etiamsi non exaudiat tutoris auctoritatem is qui cum pupillo contrahit, scriptis tamen hoc adprobetur, recte negotium geritur, ueluti si absenti pupillo per epistulam uendam aliquid aut locem et is tutoris auctoritate consentiat.
Even if the person contracting with the ward does not hear the authority of the tutor, provided that this is proved in writing, the transaction is validly conducted; as, for example, if I sell or lease something by letter to an absent ward, and he consents with the authority of his tutor.

Notes

  1. 26.8.9.prcredendo — Ablative of the gerund of `credere` (to lend / to give credit). Since lending money as a mutuum transfers its ownership to the borrower, it constitutes an "alienation" (alienatio) of the ward's property, which cannot be done without the tutor's authority.
  2. 26.8.9.1hoc amplius licet tutoris auctoritate manumittat — The concessive conjunction `licet` governs the present subjunctive `manumittat` ("even if he manumits with the authority of his tutor"). `hoc amplius` is an adverbial phrase meaning "furthermore" or "in addition to this," introducing an extra requirement for manumission.
  3. 26.8.9.2soluendo — Ablative of the gerund of `soluere` (to pay), meaning "by paying." Because payment (solutio) is a dispositive act involving the transfer of ownership, a payment made by a ward without the tutor's authority is in principle ineffective.
  4. 26.8.9.5post tempus uero aut per epistulam interposita eius auctoritas nihil agit — This passage states the principle of immediacy for the tutor's authority. `interposita` is a perfect participle modifying `auctoritas`. Authority given "afterwards" (`post tempus`) or "by letter" (`per epistulam`) is void (`nihil agit`).
  5. 26.8.9.6Etiamsi non exaudiat tutoris auctoritatem is qui cum pupillo contrahit, scriptis tamen hoc adprobetur, recte negotium geritur — A conditional structure using the present subjunctives `exaudiat` and `adprobetur`. Even if the counterparty does not physically hear (`exaudiat`) the tutor's oral approval, the transaction is valid provided that this is proved in writing (`scriptis... adprobetur`), satisfying the immediacy requirement in a non-face-to-face context.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §26.8.9.pr-26.8.9.6. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:26.8.9.pr-26.8.9.6

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