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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §4.2.11.pr

Surety Release by Third-Party Duress and Principal Debt

Passage 648 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This section explains that if a third party uses force to release a surety without any malice on the surety's part, the surety is not bound to restore the obligation of the principal debtor.

[PAULUS libro quarto IULIANI digestorum notat. ] §4.2.11.prSi quis alius sine malitia fideiussoris ut fideiussori accepto fieret uim fecit, non tenebitur fideiussor, ut rei quoque obligationem restituat.
[PAULUS, in his notes on the fourth book of Julian's Digest.] If someone else, without any malice on the part of the surety, used force in order that a release might be granted to the surety, the surety will not be bound to restore the obligation of the principal debtor as well.

Notes

  1. §4.2.11.prrei — Here rei is the genitive of reus (the principal debtor, i.e., reus promittendi). In Roman law, besides meaning a party to a lawsuit (defendant), reus also refers to a party to a contract, specifically the principal debtor in contrast to a surety (fideiussor).
  2. §4.2.11.praccepto fieret — This is a passive expression based on the phrase acceptum facere/ferre (to treat as received, i.e., to release), which effects acceptilatio (release of debt). accepto fieret functions as a variant of acceptum fieret ('that a release be made') or employs the ablative accepto ('that it be done by way of release').

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §4.2.11.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:4.2.11.pr

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