Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §9.2.40.pr

Destruction of Bond of Conditional Debt Before Fulfillment

Passage 1557 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Explains that if a written acknowledgment of a conditional debt is destroyed, the creditor can win an action under the Lex Aquilia even before the condition is fulfilled if there is a risk that witnesses might not be available later, though the execution of the judgment is suspended until the condition is actually fulfilled.

[PAULUS libro tertio ad edictum. ] §9.2.40.prIn lege Aquilia, si deletum chirographum mihi esse dicam, in quo sub condicione mihi pecunia debita fuerit, et interim testibus quoque id probare possim, qui testes possunt non esse eo tempore, quo condicio extitit, et si summatim re exposita ad suspicionem iudicem adducam, debeam uincere: sed tunc condemnationis exactio competit, cum debiti condicio extiterit: quod si defecerit, condemnatio nullas uires habebit.
[PAULUS, in the third book on the Edict.] Under the Lex Aquilia, if I should claim that a written acknowledgment of debt, in which money was owed to me under a condition, has been destroyed to my detriment, and in the meantime I am also able to prove this by witnesses, which witnesses may not be available at the time when the condition is fulfilled, and if, having explained the matter in outline, I bring the judge to a suspicion, I ought to win. But the execution of the condemnation is competent only when the condition of the debt has been fulfilled; and if this fails, the condemnation will have no force.

Notes

  1. §9.2.40.prdeletum chirographum mihi esse — An accusative-with-infinitive construction (accusative `chirographum` + infinitive `esse` + perfect participle `deletum` in the passive voice) governed by `dicam` (I claim). `mihi` is a dative of disadvantage or interest ("to my detriment" or "against me" as the creditor whose document was destroyed).
  2. §9.2.40.prsi deletum chirographum mihi esse dicam ... et interim testibus quoque id probare possim ... et si summatim re exposita ad suspicionem iudicem adducam, debeam uincere — A conditional sentence using the present subjunctive (future less vivid or hypothetical condition). The protasis (`si dicam... et... possim... et si... adducam`) corresponds to the apodosis (`debeam uincere`), also in the present subjunctive, expressing potentiality or propriety: "if I should claim... I ought to win."
  3. §9.2.40.prquod si defecerit — `quod` is a connecting relative pronoun (neuter singular nominative referring back to the conditional clause) meaning "but if this (condition)...". `defecerit` is the future perfect indicative (or perfect subjunctive) of the intransitive verb `deficio` (to fail, not to occur), expressing a future hypothesis of the condition's failure.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §9.2.40.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:9.2.40.pr

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