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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §46.3.58.pr-46.3.58.2

Payment to Unauthorized Agents and Ratification

Passage 7713 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This section discusses the validity of payments made in good faith to unauthorized representatives and the conditions for bringing a recovery (condictio), with illustrations involving the creditor's adrogation and multiple joint creditors.

[IDEM libro octagensimo ad edictum. ] §46.3.58.prSi quis offerenti se negotiis alienis bona fide soluerit, quando liberetur? et ait Iulianus, cum dominus ratum habuerit, tunc liberari.
[THE SAME, in his eightieth book on the Edict.] If anyone has paid in good faith to a person presenting himself for another's business, when is he released? And Julian says that when the principal has ratified it, he is then released.
idem ait, antequam dominus haberet ratum, an condici ex ea causa possit? et ait interesse, qua mente solutio facta esset, utrum ut statim debitor liberetur an uero cum dominus ratum habuisset: priore casu confestim posse condici procuratori et tunc demum extingui condictionem, cum dominus ratum habuisset, posteriore tunc demum nasci condictionem, cum dominus ratum non habuisset.
The same writer asks whether, before the principal has ratified, a recovery can be brought on that ground? And he says that it matters with what intention the payment was made: whether that the debtor should be released immediately, or indeed only when the principal has ratified. In the former case, a recovery can be brought immediately against the representative, and the recovery is only extinguished when the principal has ratified; in the latter case, the recovery only arises when the principal has not ratified.
§46.3.58.1Si creditor, cuius ignorantis procuratori solutum est, adrogandum se dederit, siue ratum habuit pater, rata solutio est, siue non habuit, repetere debitor potest.
If a creditor, without whose knowledge payment was made to his representative, has given himself in adrogation, if the father has ratified it, the payment is valid; if he has not, the debtor can recover it.
§46.3.58.2Et si duo rei stipulandi sunt, quorum alterius absentis procuratori datum, antequam is ratum haberet, interim alteri solutum est, in pendenti est posterior solutio ac prior: quippe incertum est, debitum an indebitum exegerit.
And if there are two joint stipulators, to the representative of one of whom, who was absent, payment was made, and before he ratified it, in the meantime payment was made to the other, both the subsequent payment and the prior one are in suspense; for indeed it is uncertain whether he has exacted a debt or an undue payment.

Notes

  1. 46.3.58.profferenti se negotiis alienis — The dative present participle offerenti functions as the indirect object of soluerit. It refers to someone who thrusts himself into another's affairs (negotia aliena), meaning an unauthorized representative or an officious manager of another's business.
  2. 46.3.58.printeresse, qua mente solutio facta esset — This is an accusative and infinitive construction of the impersonal verb interesse (it matters, it depends). The subject is the indirect subjunctive clause qua mente solutio facta esset (with what intention the payment was made), which is further expanded by the disjunctive clauses utrum... an... (whether to be released immediately or only when ratified).
  3. 46.3.58.1adrogandum se dederit — The gerundive adrogandum is used with dare to express purpose or result, meaning "to give oneself up to be adrogated" (entering another's paternal power as an independent person through adrogatio). By undergoing adrogatio, the creditor becomes a subordinate family member (filius familias), and his claims transfer to the new patriarch (pater familias), who then holds the power to ratify.
  4. 46.3.58.2posterior solutio ac prior — The conjunction ac connects posterior solutio and prior (solutio), making them function together as a compound subject. Although the verb est in in pendenti est is singular, the phrase asserts that both payments (the subsequent and the prior) remain in suspense.
  5. 46.3.58.2debitum an indebitum exegerit — This is an indirect disjunctive question clause ("whether he exacted a debt or an undue payment") within the causal clause introduced by quippe. The subject of the perfect subjunctive exegerit is the creditor who received the subsequent payment, reflecting the uncertainty of whether the collected money constitutes a valid payment of a debt or an undue recovery.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §46.3.58.pr-46.3.58.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:46.3.58.pr-46.3.58.2

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