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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §45.1.69.pr

Invalidity of Penalty Stipulations for Impossible Acts

Passage 7416 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Ulpian explains that a stipulation for a penalty is invalid when the performance is impossible, such as producing or delivering a slave who is already dead.

[ULPIANUS libro sexto ad edictum. ] §45.1.69.prSi homo mortuus sit, sisti non potest nec poena rei impossibilis committetur, quemadmodum si quis Stichum mortuum dare stipulatus, si datus non esset, poenam stipuletur.
[ULPIANUS, On the Edict, Book 6] If a slave is dead, he cannot be produced in court, nor will a penalty for an impossible thing be incurred, just as if someone, having stipulated for the delivery of the dead Stichus, should stipulate for a penalty if he were not delivered.

Notes

  1. §45.1.69.prsisti — The present passive infinitive of the verb `sistere` (to produce or make appear in court). It functions as the complement to the impersonal phrase `non potest` (it is impossible).
  2. §45.1.69.prcommittetur — The third-person singular future passive indicative of the verb `committere`. In Roman legal terminology, `poena committitur` means that a penalty is incurred or forfeited due to the fulfillment of the condition (i.e., non-performance).
  3. §45.1.69.prstipulatus — The perfect participle of the deponent verb `stipulari`. It functions here either as a participle equivalent to a circumstantial clause or with an implied auxiliary verb (like `esset`) in the pluperfect subjunctive, describing the prior setup of the impossible stipulation.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §45.1.69.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:45.1.69.pr

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