Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §39.5.22.pr

Exemption from Default Interest on Promised Gifts

Passage 6237 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Modestinus argues that a person who promises money or other things as a gift does not owe interest for delay, on the grounds that a gift is not classified under contracts of good faith.

[MODESTINUS libro octauo differentiarum. ] §39.5.22.prEum, qui donationis causa pecuniam uel quid aliud promisit, de mora solutionis pecuniae usuras non debere, summae aequitatis est, maxime cum in bonae fidei contractibus donationis species non deputetur.
[MODESTINUS, in the eighth book of Differences.] It is of the highest equity that a person who, for the purpose of a gift, has promised money or something else, does not owe interest for delay in paying the money, especially since the category of gift is not reckoned among contracts of good faith.

Notes

  1. §39.5.22.prsummae aequitatis est — Genitive of quality (predicative genitive), meaning "is of the highest equity" or "is highly equitable." The subject of the sentence is the accusative-with-infinitive clause Eum... non debere.
  2. §39.5.22.prmaxime cum... non deputetur — A cum clause expressing cause with the subjunctive deputetur. It explains the legal background: while in contracts of good faith (bonae fidei contractus) interest may accrue automatically upon delay (morae usurae), a gift is not reckoned among such contracts, and thus no interest for delay is owed.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §39.5.22.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:39.5.22.pr

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