Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §44.7.8.pr

Invalidity of Obligations Subject to Purely Discretionary Conditions

Passage 7293 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

It explains that a condition based purely on one's own will ('if I wish') is void, meaning no obligation is created, and therefore the heir of the promisor is not bound.

[IDEM libro sexto decimo ad Sabinum. ] §44.7.8.prSub hac condicione 'si uolam' nulla fit obligatio: pro non dicto enim est, quod dare nisi uelis cogi non possis: nam nec heres promissoris eius, qui numquam dare uoluerit, tenetur, quia haec condicio in ipsum promissorem numquam exstitit.
[THE SAME, from the sixteenth book on Sabinus.] Under this condition 'if I wish', no obligation arises; for that which you cannot be compelled to perform unless you wish is regarded as not having been said; for neither is the heir of that promisor bound who never wished to perform, because this condition was never fulfilled in the person of the promisor himself.

Notes

  1. §44.7.8.prpro non dicto ... est, quod dare nisi uelis cogi non possis — quod is a relative pronoun representing an implied antecedent (such as id), meaning 'that which...', forming the subject clause of the sentence. The subjunctives possis and uelis are used for the generalizing second person ('you' meaning anyone) in a hypothetical scenario. The phrase pro non dicto est is a legal idiom meaning 'is regarded as not having been said' or 'is treated as void'.
  2. §44.7.8.prqui numquam dare uoluerit — uoluerit is in the perfect subjunctive (or future perfect indicative), indicating a past or hypothetical prior state ('who never wished to perform') relative to the present tense of the main verb tenetur. The relative clause qui... modifies promissoris eius.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §44.7.8.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:44.7.8.pr

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