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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §45.1.76.pr-45.1.76.1

Personal Choice in Stipulations and General Clauses

Passage 7423 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Paulus discusses the personal nature of choice in stipulations with options and its transferability to heirs, and explains how the phrase 'whatever you ought to give' is restricted to currently due debts unless specific terms for the future are added.

[PAULUS libro octauo decimo ad edictum. ] §45.1.76.prSi stipulatus fuerim 'illud aut illud, quod ego uoluero', haec electio personalis est, et ideo seruo uel filio talis electio cohaeret: in heredes tamen transit obligatio et ante electionem mortuo stipulatore.
[PAULUS, On the Edict, Book 18] If I have stipulated for 'this or that, whichever I shall wish', this choice is personal, and therefore such a choice is inherent in the slave or the son; nevertheless, the obligation passes to the heirs even if the stipulator dies before the choice.
§45.1.76.1Cum stipulamur 'quidquid te dare facere oportet', id quod praesenti die dumtaxat debetur in stipulationem deducitur, non (ut in iudiciis) etiam futurum: et ideo in stipulatione adicitur uerbum 'oportebit' uel ita 'praesens in diemue'.
When we stipulate for 'whatever you ought to give or do', only that which is owed on the present day is brought into the stipulation, and not also (as in legal proceedings) what is future; and therefore in the stipulation, the word 'it shall be owed' or 'immediately or on a specified day' is added.
hoc ideo fit, quia qui stipulatur 'quidquid te dare oportet' demonstrat eam pecuniam quae iam debetur: quod si totam demonstrare uult, dicit 'oportebitue' uel ita 'praesens in diemue'.
This is done because he who stipulates for 'whatever you ought to give' points to that money which is already owed; but if he wishes to point to the whole of it, he says 'or it shall be owed' or 'immediately or on a specified day'.

Notes

  1. §45.1.76.prseruo uel filio talis electio cohaeret — The datives seruo uel filio depend on the verb cohaeret (to cohere, be inherent in). It indicates that when a slave or a son under paternal power negotiates the contract, the power of choice remains attached to their physical person, reflecting its personal (personalis) nature.
  2. §45.1.76.prante electionem mortuo stipulatore — The ablative absolute 'ante electionem mortuo stipulatore' is introduced by the intensifying/concessive conjunction 'et' (meaning 'even'), indicating 'even if the stipulator has died before the choice is made'. This contrasts with the personal nature of the choice, showing that the obligation (obligatio) itself still passes to the heirs.
  3. §45.1.76.1non (ut in iudiciis) etiam futurum — Ellipsis of the verb in the negative clause. After 'non etiam futurum', the verb 'deducitur' from the preceding main clause is understood ('what is future is not brought into...'). 'ut in iudiciis' (as in trials) contrasts legal actions—where future dues might be covered—with the formal, verbal contract of stipulation, which is strictly limited to currently due debts.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §45.1.76.pr-45.1.76.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:45.1.76.pr-45.1.76.1

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