Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §4.8.3.pr-4.8.3.3

Acceptance of Arbitration and Praetorian Compulsion

Passage 824 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

The passage discusses the invalidity of arbitral awards releasing someone from guardianship of a minor, the praetor's right to intervene when an arbitrator refuses to render a decision after accepting the office, and the limits of the praetor's power over certain high-ranking officials acting as arbitrators.

[IDEM libro tertio decimo ad edictum. ] §4.8.3.prLabeo ait, si compromisso facto sententia dicta est, quo quis a minore uiginti quinque annis tutelae absolueretur, ratum id a praetore non habendum: neque poenae eo nomine commissae petitio dabitur.
[THE SAME in his thirteenth book on the Edict.] Labeo says that if, after an agreement to arbitrate has been made, a decision is rendered by which someone is released from guardianship by a person under twenty-five years of age, this ought not to be held valid by the praetor; and no claim for the penalty incurred on that account will be granted.
§4.8.3.1Tametsi neminem praetor cogat arbitrium recipere, quoniam haec res libera et soluta est et extra necessitatem iurisdictionis posita, attamen ubi semel quis in se receperit arbitrium, ad curam et sollicitudinem suam hanc rem pertinere praetor putat: non tantum quod studeret lites finiri, uerum quoniam non deberent decipi, qui eum quasi uirum bonum disceptatorem inter se elegerunt.
Although the praetor does not compel anyone to accept an arbitration, since this matter is free and voluntary and placed outside the necessity of jurisdiction, yet once someone has taken an arbitration upon himself, the praetor thinks that this matter belongs to his own care and concern: not only because he is anxious for lawsuits to be ended, but because those who chose him between themselves as if he were an honorable dispasshooter should not be deceived.
finge enim post causam iam semel atque iterum tractatam, post nudata utriusque intima et secreta negotii aperta, arbitrum uel gratiae dantem uel sordibus corruptum uel alia qua ex causa nolle sententiam dicere: quisquamne potest negare aequissimum fore praetorem interponere se debuisse, ut officium quod in se recepit impleret?
For imagine that, after the case has already been treated once and again, after the innermost matters of both parties and the secrets of the business have been laid bare and opened, the arbitrator, either showing favor, or corrupted by bribery, or for some other reason, refuses to give his decision: who can deny that it would have been most equitable for the praetor to have interposed, so that the arbitrator might fulfill the duty he had taken upon himself?
§4.8.3.2Ait praetor: 'Qui arbitrium pecunia compromissa receperit'. §4.8.3.3Tractemus de personis arbitrantium.
The praetor says: "He who has accepted an arbitration under an agreement to arbitrate with a promised penalty." Let us treat of the persons of those acting as arbitrators.
et quidem arbitrum cuiuscumque dignitatis coget officio quod susceperit perfungi, etiam si sit consularis: nisi forte sit in aliquo magistratu positus uel potestate, consul forte uel praetor, quoniam in hoc imperium non habet.
And indeed, the praetor will compel an arbitrator of whatever rank to perform the duty he has undertaken, even if he is of consular rank: unless by chance he is placed in some magistracy or power, such as a consul or a praetor, because he does not have authority over such a person.

Notes

  1. §4.8.3.prquo quis a minore uiginti quinque annis tutelae absolueretur — `quo` is an ablative of means (relative pronoun) referring to the decision (`sententia`), taking the subjunctive `absolueretur` to express the result or characteristic of the decision ("by which someone would be released"). `tutelae` is a genitive of separation dependent on the verb `absoluere` ("to release from").
  2. §4.8.3.1aequissimum fore praetorem interponere se debuisse — This is an accusative and infinitive construction acting as the object of `negare`. The subject of `fore` (`futurum esse`) is the entire following infinitive clause `praetorem interponere se debuisse`. The structure is "that it would have been most equitable (`aequissimum fore`) that the praetor ought to have interposed himself (`praetorem interponere se debuisse`)."
  3. §4.8.3.3officio quod susceperit perfungi — The deponent verb `perfungi` ("to perform/execute") governs the ablative case, which is why `officio` is in the ablative. `susceperit` is in the perfect subjunctive within the relative clause, indicating an action prior to the future tense of the main verb `coget` (representing a future perfect or expressing a potential/subjunctive nuance).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §4.8.3.pr-4.8.3.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:4.8.3.pr-4.8.3.3

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.