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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §46.4.14.pr

Correspondence and Truthfulness in Acceptilatio

Passage 7778 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This section states that for a verbal release to effect a complete discharge, it must agree with the underlying obligation and its declaration must be true, based on the principle that only words that correspond to each other can be dissolved by words.

[PAULUS libro duodecimo ad Sabinum. ] §46.4.14.prNisi consentiat acceptilatio cum obligatione et nisi uerum est, quod in acceptilatione demonstratur, imperfecta est liberatio, quia uerbis uerba ea demum resolui possunt, quae inter se congruunt.
Unless the release agrees with the obligation, and unless that which is declared in the release is true, the discharge is incomplete, because only those words can be dissolved by words which agree with one another.

Notes

  1. 46.4.14.prconsentiat ... uerum est — In the two clauses introduced by the conjunction nisi, the first verb is in the present subjunctive (consentiat) and the second is in the present indicative (uerum est). The former expresses a hypothetical non-agreement, while the latter points to the objective fact of the declaration being untrue.
  2. 46.4.14.pruerbis uerba — The ablative of means uerbis ('by words') and the nominative/accusative neuter plural uerba ('words'), which functions as the subject of resolui possunt, are placed side-by-side. This highlights the Roman legal principle of symmetry of acts: obligations created by words (stipulatio) can only be dissolved by words (acceptilatio).
  3. 46.4.14.prea demum ... quae — The combination of the demonstrative pronoun ea with the adverb demum ('only') restricts the antecedent uerba through the relative clause quae inter se congruunt. It means 'only those words which agree with one another,' requiring a strict correspondence between the words of the obligation and those of the release.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §46.4.14.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:46.4.14.pr

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