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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §3.3.58.pr

Powers of an Agent with General Administration

Passage 541 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This section explains that an agent entrusted with the general administration of property has the authority to collect debts, effect novation, and exchange assets.

[PAULUS libro septuagensimo primo ad edictum. ] §3.3.58.prProcurator, cui generaliter libera administratio rerum commissa est, potest exigere, nouare, aliud pro alio permutare.
[PAULUS in the seventy-first book on the edict.] An agent to whom the free administration of property has been entrusted in a general way has the power to collect debts, to novate, and to exchange one thing for another.

Notes

  1. §3.3.58.prcui generaliter libera administratio rerum commissa est — The relative clause cui ... commissa est modifies the antecedent Procurator. rerum (genitive plural of res) functions as an objective genitive with administratio and refers broadly to the entire "estate" or "property." The adverb generaliter indicates that the agent has a general agency (procurator omnium bonorum) rather than a special, limited mandate.
  2. §3.3.58.prexige, nouare, aliud pro alio permutare — These are three parallel infinitives depending on the verb potest. exigere means "to collect" or "demand payment of (debts)," while nouare is a technical legal term meaning "to effect a novation (novatio)." aliud pro alio permutare literally means "to exchange one thing for another," all of which are treated as permissible acts of administration and disposal within the scope of a general mandate.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §3.3.58.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:3.3.58.pr

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