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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §46.2.13.pr

Delegation of a Non-Debtor and Recovery Against Delegator

Passage 7634 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

When a non-debtor is mistakenly delegated to a creditor, the delegated person cannot raise a defense against the creditor, but can bring an action for recovery against the delegator.

[ULPIANUS libro trigensimo octauo ad edictum. ] §46.2.13.prSi non debitorem quasi debitorem delegauero creditori meo, exceptio locum non habebit, sed condictio aduersus eum qui delegauit competit.
[ULPIANUS, in the thirty-eighth book on the Edict.] If I delegate a non-debtor, as if he were a debtor, to my creditor, a plea will have no place, but an action for recovery lies against the person who delegated him.

Notes

  1. §46.2.13.prnon debitorem quasi debitorem — Both non debitorem ('a non-debtor') and quasi debitorem ('as if a debtor') relate to the object of the verb delegauero. The former denotes the actual objective status of the delegated person, while the latter represents the false status assumed for the delegation.
  2. §46.2.13.prexceptio locum non habebit — The plea has no place because the creditor (creditori meo) received the promise via delegation as satisfaction for a valid debt owed to them, meaning no defense can be raised against a good-faith creditor.
  3. §46.2.13.prcondictio aduersus eum qui delegauit competit — Although the delegated person cannot refuse performance to the creditor, they are granted an action for recovery (condictio) against the delegator (eum qui delegauit) to recover the value of the performance made without underlying debt.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §46.2.13.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:46.2.13.pr

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