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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §44.7.2.pr-44.7.2.3

Obligations by Consent and Reciprocal Duties of Good Faith

Passage 7287 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

The passage explains that obligations are created by consent alone in contracts of sale, lease, partnership, and mandate, without requiring specific words or writing, and outlines their reciprocal nature based on good faith.

[IDEM libro tertio institutionum. ] §44.7.2.prConsensu fiunt obligationes in emptionibus uenditionibus, locationibus conductionibus, societatibus, mandatis.
[IDEM libro tertio institutionum.] Obligations are created by consent in buying and selling, letting and hiring, partnerships, and mandates.
§44.7.2.1Ideo autem istis modis consensu dicimus obligationem contrahi, quia neque uerborum neque scripturae ulla proprietas desideratur, sed sufficit eos, qui negotia gerunt, consentire.
Moreover, we say that an obligation is contracted by consent in these ways because no specific form of words or writing is required, but it is sufficient that those who transact the business consent.
§44.7.2.2Unde inter absentes quoque talia negotia contrahuntur, ueluti per epistulam uel per nuntium.
Hence, such transactions are contracted even between absent persons, for example, by letter or by messenger.
§44.7.2.3Item in his contractibus alter alteri obligatur de eo, quod alterum alteri ex bono et aequo praestare oportet.
Likewise, in these contracts, each is obligated to the other for that which one ought to perform for the other in accordance with what is good and fair.

Notes

  1. §44.7.2.1obligationem contrahi — An accusative with infinitive clause (accusative `obligationem` + passive infinitive `contrahi`) acting as the direct object of the main verb `dicimus`.
  2. §44.7.2.1sufficit eos, qui negotia gerunt, consentire — An accusative with infinitive clause functioning as the subject of the impersonal verb `sufficit`. The accusative `eos` (modified by the relative clause `qui negotia gerunt`) serves as the subject accusative of the infinitive `consentire`.
  3. §44.7.2.3alterum alteri — The accusative `alterum` is the subject accusative of the infinitive `praestare` dependent on the impersonal verb `oportet`, paired with the dative `alteri` (to the other). This is contrasted with `alter alteri` in the main clause, expressing the reciprocal performance duties in bilateral contracts.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §44.7.2.pr-44.7.2.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:44.7.2.pr-44.7.2.3

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