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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §46.8.25.pr-46.8.25.1

Death Before Ratification and Collection Before Extinction

Passage 7856 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Discusses why a security given for a daughter's ratification of a dowry claimed by her father is not triggered if she dies before ratifying, and explains the relation between ratification and the debtor's claim against a procurator who collected a debt before its release.

[IDEM libro sexto quaestionum. ] §46.8.25.prPater dotem a se datam absente filia petit et ratam rem habituram eam cauit: ea prius quam ratum haberet, mortua est.
[THE SAME, Book VI of Questions.] A father claimed a dowry given by himself in the absence of his daughter, and gave security that she would ratify the matter; she died before she could ratify it.
negauit committi stipulationem, quia et si uerum sit ratum eam non habuisse, nihil tamen mariti intersit dotem restitui, cum patri etiam mortua filia salua esse dos debeat.
He held that the stipulation is not committed, because even if it is true that she did not ratify it, nevertheless it is of no interest to the husband that the dowry be restored, since the dowry ought to be preserved for the father even upon the death of the daughter.
§46.8.25.1Procurator cum ab eo aes alienum exegerat, qui tempore liberaretur, ratam rem dominum habiturum cauit: deinde post tempus liberato iam debitore dominus ratam rem habet.
When a procurator collected a debt from a person who was to be released by the passage of time, he gave security that the principal would ratify the matter; subsequently, after the passage of time when the debtor was already released, the principal ratified the matter.
posse debitorem agere cum procuratore existimauit, cum iam debitor liberatus sit: argumentum rei, quod, si nulla stipulatio interposita sit, condictio locum aduersus procuratorem habitura sit: in locum autem condictionis interponi stipulationem
He held that the debtor can sue the procurator, since the debtor has already been released; the proof of this is that, if no stipulation had been interposed, a condictio would lie against the procurator, and the stipulation is interposed in place of the condictio.

Notes

  1. §46.8.25.prcommitti — The passive infinitive of the verb committere, which in legal contexts means 'to be committed' or 'to be triggered' (i.e., the condition of the stipulation is met and the penalty/claim becomes enforceable). Here it is held that the claim under the stipulation does not arise because the husband has no real interest, despite the non-ratification.
  2. §46.8.25.prmariti intersit — Subjunctive present of the impersonal verb interest ('it is of interest/importance'). The person of interest is expressed in the genitive (mariti), and the subject of interest is expressed by the accusative and infinitive clause (dotem restitui).
  3. §46.8.25.1qui tempore liberaretur — The antecedent of the relative pronoun qui is eo (the debtor). The subjunctive imperfect liberaretur denotes a prospective action or characteristic from a past perspective ('who was to be released by the passage of time').
  4. §46.8.25.1condictio locum aduersus procuratorem habitura sit — The apodosis of the conditional sentence within the noun clause introduced by quod. It uses the periphrastic conjugation (future participle habitura + subjunctive present sit) to represent the hypothetical result ('a condictio would lie') in a subordinate clause dependent on the past verb of thinking (existimauit). locum habere means 'to take place' or 'to be applicable.'

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §46.8.25.pr-46.8.25.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:46.8.25.pr-46.8.25.1

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