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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §44.4.16.pr

Payment on Behalf of Insane Person and Fraud Defense

Passage 7279 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

It explains that if a debtor, delegated by an insane person whom they believed to be of sound mind, pays the creditor and is sued, they are defended by an exception of fraud to the extent that it benefited the insane person's estate.

[HERMOGENIANUS libro sexto iuris epitomarum. ] §44.4.16.prSi debitor a furioso delegatus creditori eius soluat, quem compotem mentis esse existimabat, et ita cum eo agatur: exceptione doli in id, quod in rem furiosi processit, defenditur.
[HERMOGENIANUS in the sixth book of Epitomes of Law.] If a debtor, delegated by an insane person whom he believed to be of sound mind, should pay his creditor, and an action is brought against him on this account: he is defended by an exception of fraud to the extent of what has gone to the benefit of the insane person's estate.

Notes

  1. §44.4.16.prquem compotem mentis esse existimabat — The antecedent of the relative pronoun quem is not the immediately preceding creditori, but the previously mentioned furioso (or the insane person referred to by eius). A delegation (delegatio) by an insane person is originally void due to lack of capacity; however, in this context, if the debtor paid in good faith, mistakenly believing the delegator to be of sound mind (compotem mentis), they are allowed to defend themselves by an exception of fraud (exceptio doli) to the extent that the payment benefited the insane person's estate (in rem processit). Thus, this interpretation is uniquely determined.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §44.4.16.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:44.4.16.pr

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