Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §46.3.101.pr-46.3.101.1

Overpayment by Co-obligors and Allocation of Pledge Proceeds

Passage 7757 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Paulus clarifies that overpayment by some co-obligors does not release others from their shares under a trust, and distinguishes a debtor's right of allocation from a creditor's right to apply pledge proceeds to natural obligations.

[IDEM libro quinto decimo responsorum. ] §46.3.101.prPaulus respondit non ideo eos, qui uirilem portionem ex causa fideicommissi inferre debuerant, liberatos uideri, quoniam quidam ex collegis per errorem plus debito intulerunt.
[THE SAME, in the fifteenth book of Opinions.] Paulus answered that those who were bound to pay their individual share on account of a trust are not on that account to be considered released, because some of their colleagues by mistake paid more than what was due.
§46.3.101.1Paulus respondit aliam causam esse debitoris soluentis, aliam creditoris pignus distrahentis: nam cum debitor soluit pecuniam, in potestate eius esse commemorare, in quam causam solueret: cum autem creditor pignus distraheret, licere ei pretium in acceptum referre etiam in eam quantitatem, quae natura tantum debebatur, et ideo deducto eo debitum peti posse.
Paulus answered that the case of a debtor paying is one thing, and that of a creditor selling a pledge is another; for when a debtor pays money, it is in his power to state on what account he is paying; but when a creditor sells a pledge, he is allowed to credit the price even toward that amount which was owed only naturally, and therefore, after that has been deducted, the debt can be sued for.

Notes

  1. §46.3.101.prnon ideo... quoniam — This construction expresses a negation of a causal relationship: the reason introduced by quoniam (overpayment by colleagues) does not justify the conclusion represented by ideo (the release of the debtors).
  2. §46.3.101.pruirilem portionem — The term uirilis portio (literally 'a man's portion') refers to an equal individual share (per capita) among co-heirs or co-obligors.
  3. §46.3.101.1aliam causam esse debitoris... aliam creditoris... — An accusative and infinitive construction with a contrastive structure aliam... aliam..., comparing the legal standing of the paying debtor (debitoris soluentis) with that of the creditor selling a pledge (creditoris pignus distrahentis).
  4. §46.3.101.1in acceptum referre — A technical term in Roman law and book-keeping, meaning 'to enter as received' or 'to credit as received (for the discharge of a debt)'.
  5. §46.3.101.1natura tantum debebatur — Refers to a natural obligation (naturalis obligatio), which lacks legal actionability but constitutes a valid debt so that payment or allocation to it is legally retained.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §46.3.101.pr-46.3.101.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:46.3.101.pr-46.3.101.1

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