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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §44.7.11.pr

Origin of Contractual Obligations and Contracts for Third Parties

Passage 7296 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This text explains the principle that obligations arising from a contract must begin from the person of the contracting party themselves, and that one cannot contract for another so as to give that other a direct right of action.

[PAULUS libro duodecimo ad Sabinum. ] §44.7.11.prQuaecumque gerimus, cum ex nostro contractu originem trahunt, nisi ex nostra persona obligationis initium sumant, inanem actum nostrum efficiunt: et ideo neque stipulari neque emere uendere contrahere, ut alter suo nomine recte agat, possumus.
[PAULUS, from the twelfth book on Sabinus.] Whatever we do, when it derives its origin from our contract, unless it takes the beginning of the obligation from our own person, renders our act void; and therefore we cannot stipulate, nor buy or sell, nor contract, in order that another may rightly sue in his own name.

Notes

  1. §44.7.11.prQuaecumque gerimus ... inanem actum nostrum efficiunt — The relative clause "Quaecumque gerimus" (whatever we do) serves as the subject of the main verb "efficiunt". Since the subject practically encompasses the object "actum nostrum" (our act) in its meaning, it forms a pleonastic structure meaning "whatever we do makes our act void."
  2. §44.7.11.prut alter suo nomine recte agat — A purpose clause with the subjunctive (ut + subjunctive agat). Here, "agere" is used in the legal sense of "to bring an action" or "to sue", meaning "so that another may rightly bring an action in his own name."

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §44.7.11.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:44.7.11.pr

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