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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §34.5.21.pr-34.5.21.1

Interpretation of Ambiguous Terms and Contract Validity

Passage 5285 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Paulus states that when words are ambiguous, the intention of the parties should prevail, and in doubtful cases, interpretations should aim to preserve the validity of a good-faith transaction as much as possible.

[IDEM libro quarto decimo ad Plautium. ] §34.5.21.prUbi est uerborum ambiguitas, ualet quod acti est, ueluti cum Stichum stipuler et sint plures Stichi, uel hominem, uel Carthagini, cum sint duae Carthagines.
[THE SAME, from the fourteenth book on Plautius.] Where there is ambiguity in the words, that which was intended is valid; for example, when I stipulate for Stichus and there are several slaves named Stichus, or for "a slave", or "at Carthage" when there are two cities named Carthage.
§34.5.21.1Semper in dubiis id agendum est, ut quam tutissimo loco res sit bona fide contracta, nisi cum aperte contra leges scriptum est.
In doubtful cases, we must always endeavor that a transaction contracted in good faith should be in as secure a position as possible, unless it has been openly written contrary to the laws.

Notes

  1. §34.5.21.prquod acti est — acti is the genitive of the perfect participle actum (what was transacted/agreed), functioning as a partitive genitive after the pronoun quod. The entire phrase refers to what was intended or agreed upon by the parties.
  2. §34.5.21.1id agendum est, ut — This is an impersonal passive periphrastic construction where the provisional subject id is explained by the following noun clause introduced by ut. It expresses an obligation or interpretative directive that "endeavor must be made to..."
  3. §34.5.21.1quam tutissimo loco — The conjunction quam combined with the superlative adjective tutissimo means "in as secure a position as possible." loco is an ablative of place. This reflects the interpretive principle of preserving the effectiveness of a contract.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §34.5.21.pr-34.5.21.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:34.5.21.pr-34.5.21.1

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