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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §50.8.3.pr-50.8.3.2

Liability of Sureties in Public Contracts and Rent Relief

Passage 8757 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This section discusses the scope of liability when a surety of a contractor re-lets the work to another, the liability of sureties of a tax-farmer for interest, and the application of good faith in adjusting rent due to bad harvests in agricultural leases.

[IDEM ex eodem libro. ] §50.8.3.prConductore perficiendi operis punito fideiussor, qui pro eo interuenerat, idem opus exstruendum alii locauerat: nec a secundo redemptore opere perfecto usurarum praestationem heres fideiussoris recusare non debet, cum et prior causa in bonae fidei contractu in uniuersum fideiussorem obligauerit, et posterior locatio, quia suum periculum agnouit, solidae praestationi rei publicae eum substituerit.
[THE SAME, from the same book.] When the contractor for completing a work had been punished, the surety who had intervened on his behalf leased the construction of the same work to another. Once the work was completed by the second contractor, the heir of the surety ought not to refuse the payment of interest, since both the prior cause in a contract of good faith bound the surety for the whole, and the subsequent lease, because he acknowledged his own risk, substituted him for the full performance to the municipality.
§50.8.3.1Qui fideiusserint pro conductore uectigalis in uniuersam conductionem, in usuras quoque iure conueniuntur, nisi proprie quid in persona eorum uerbis obligationis expressum est.
Those who have become sureties for a lessee of a tax for the entire lease are also lawfully sued for interest, unless some specific provision was expressed regarding their person in the words of the obligation.
§50.8.3.2Sed si in locatione fundorum pro sterilitate temporis boni uiri arbitratu in soluenda pensione cuiusque anni pacto comprehensum est, explorata lege conductionis fides bona sequenda est.
But if, in a lease of lands, it has been included in the agreement that, in case of a sterile season, the payment of each year's rent should be according to the judgment of an honest man, then, after investigating the law of the lease, good faith must be followed.

Notes

  1. §50.8.3.prexstruendum alii locauerat — While the verb `locare` usually means "to lease" or "to let," when it takes a work (`opus`) as its object along with a gerundive (`exstruendum` here), it means "to contract out" or "to let out a contract for" the construction to another.
  2. §50.8.3.prnec ... non debet — The double negation (`nec` and `non debet`) results in a strong affirmation "ought not to refuse" (or "must not refuse"). Although there are manuscript variants or late Latin influences that sometimes complicate double negatives, the context clearly indicates that the heir of the surety cannot refuse the payment of interest due to delay.
  3. §50.8.3.2boni uiri arbitratu — The ablative noun `arbitratu` (by the judgment/decision) is modified by the genitive `boni uiri` (of an honest man / of a good man), expressing the standard or manner. In Roman law, this refers to an objective and equitable standard (the judgment of a standard reasonable person).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §50.8.3.pr-50.8.3.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:50.8.3.pr-50.8.3.2

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