Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §39.5.26.pr

Debt Creation and Gift Validity by Account Entry

Passage 6241 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Explains that a bare entry in an account does not create a debt, and even if there is an intention to make a donation to a free person, the mere entry in accounts does not constitute a donation.

[POMPONIUS libro quarto ad Quintum Mucium. ] §39.5.26.prNuda ratio non facit aliquem debitorem: ut puta quod donare libero homini uolumus licet referamus in rationes nostras debere nos, tamen nulla donatio intellegitur.
[POMPONIUS, in the fourth book on Quintus Mucius.] A bare entry in an account does not make anyone a debtor; for instance, as to what we wish to donate to a free person, even though we enter in our accounts that we owe it, still no donation is understood to exist.

Notes

  1. §39.5.26.prnuda ratio — Refers to a mere entry or record in an account without any underlying legal cause (causa) or substantive agreement.
  2. §39.5.26.prquod donare libero homini uolumus — The relative pronoun or conjunction quod can be interpreted as 'as to the fact that' or as containing its antecedent ('that which we wish to donate'), serving to introduce the premise of the entire sentence alongside the concessive clause licet...
  3. §39.5.26.prdebere nos — An accusative with infinitive (AcI) construction consisting of debere (infinitive) and nos (accusative subject), serving as the object of referamus ('we enter in our accounts that we owe [it]').

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §39.5.26.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:39.5.26.pr

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.