Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §45.2.3.pr-45.2.3.1

Establishment of Joint Obligations and Novation

Passage 7492 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Ulpian explains that even with a lapse of time, joint obligations are established without novation according to the parties' intent, and that each joint debtor is liable for the whole, with one payment releasing all.

[ULPIANUS libro quadragensimo septimo ad Sabinum. ] §45.2.3.prIn duobus reis promittendi frustra timetur nouatio: nam licet ante prior responderit posterior etsi ex interuallo accipiatur, consequens est dicere pristinam obligationem durare et sequentem accedere: et parui refert, simul spondeant an separatim promittant, cum hoc actum inter eos sit, ut duo rei constituantur: neque ulla nouatio fiet.
[ULPIANUS in the forty-seventh book to Sabinus.] In the case of two joint debtors of promising, a novation is feared in vain; for although the first may answer beforehand and the second is accepted even after an interval, it follows that we should say that the former obligation continues to exist and the subsequent one is added to it; and it matters little whether they promise simultaneously or promise separately, since this was agreed between them, that two joint debtors should be established; and no novation will take place.
§45.2.3.1Ubi duo rei facti sunt, potest uel ab uno eorum solidum peti: hoc est enim duorum reorum, ut unusquisque eorum in solidum sit obligatus possitque ab alterutro peti.
When two joint debtors have been made, the whole amount can be demanded even from one of them; for this is characteristic of two joint debtors, that each of them is bound for the whole and payment can be demanded from either of them.
et partes autem a singulis peti posse nequaquam dubium est, quemadmodum et a reo et fideiussore petere possumus.
And indeed, there is no doubt at all that parts also can be demanded from each individual, just as we can demand from both a principal debtor and a guarantor.
utique enim cum una sit obligatio, una et summa est, ut, siue unus soluat, omnes liberentur, siue soluatur, ab altero liberatio contingat.
For in any case, since there is one obligation, there is also one sum, so that, whether one pays, all are released, or if payment is made, release occurs for the other.

Notes

  1. §45.2.3.prduobus reis promittendi — Meaning 'two parties (debtors) of promising'. Here, 'reus' does not mean a defendant in a lawsuit, but a party to a contract, specifically the debtor who incurs an obligation. 'promittendi' is the genitive of the gerund, modifying 'rei'.
  2. §45.2.3.prparui refert — An impersonal expression with the verb 'refert' and the genitive of value 'parui', meaning 'it matters little'. The following present subjunctives 'spondeant... promittant' form indirect questions.
  3. §45.2.3.1duorum reorum — A possessive/characteristic genitive meaning 'it is characteristic of...' or 'it is the nature of...'. It forms the construction 'hoc est ... ut' ('it is characteristic of... that...').
  4. §45.2.3.1siue soluatur — The third-person singular present subjunctive passive of the verb 'soluere'. It is understood impersonally as 'if payment is made', in contrast to the preceding active 'siue unus soluat' ('whether one pays').

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §45.2.3.pr-45.2.3.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:45.2.3.pr-45.2.3.1

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.