Causa in D. 44,4,2,3
La cause de D. 44,4,2,3

Author: Waelkens, Laurent

Source: The Legal History Review, Volume 75, Number 2, 2007 , pp. 199-212(14)

Publisher: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, an imprint of Brill

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Abstract:

In Roman law, D. 44,4,2,3 is the reference-text for stipulation without cause. Causality is a characteristic feature of early-modern legal thinking, but it may seem alien to a text from the 3rd century A.D. Would it therefore be possible to understand that text without reading into it the stipulation without cause? If one looks for a single meaning of causa in all the passages of the Digest where the phrase appears, the term seems to have a complex significance, including both a law-suit, litigation, a legal act and a legal fact. In that light, D. 44,4,2,3 takes on another dimension, as the text explains a particular feature of the exceptio doli. This study may thus offer a caveat for differentiating, when reading a text of Roman law, between its original ancient use and its reception during the ius commune era.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/157181907781352591

Affiliations: 1: Louvain

Publication date: 2007-06-01