PACTUM
pactum (pak-t<<schwa>>m), n. [Latin] Roman & civil law. An agreement or convention, usu. falling short of a contract; a pact. — Also termed pactum conventum. Pl. pacta.
pactum constitutae pecuniae (pak-t<<schwa>>m kon-st<<schwa>>-t[y]oo-tee pi-kyoo-nee-ee). [Latin “agreement for a fixed sum of money”] See pactum de constituto.
pactum corvinum de hereditate viventis (pak-t<<schwa>>m kor-vI-n<<schwa>>m dee h<<schwa>>-red-i-tay-tee vI-ven-tis). [Latin “a raven-like contract on the inheritance of the living”] An agreement concerning the succession of one still living. — Also termed pactum de successione viventis; pactum super hereditate viventis.
“It is supposed that the Romans called this a corvine agreement (pactum corvinum) on account of the eager rapacity of ravens, which prompts them to attack and commence to devour animals weakened and dying before death has actually taken place.” John Trayner, Trayner’s Latin Maxims 429 (4th ed. 1894).
pactum de constituto (pak-t<<schwa>>m dee kon-sti-t[y]oo-toh). [Latin “an agreement”] An informal agreement to pay an existing debt, one’s own or another’s, at a fixed time. • The agreement was enforceable by a praetor. Justinian extended the pactum de constituto from money to debts of any kind. The pactum could also be used to give security; it differs from fidejussion mainly in its informality. — Also termed pactum constitutae pecuniae. See CONSTITUTUM. Cf.
FIDEJUSSION.
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pactum de non petendo (pak-t<<schwa>>m dee non p<<schwa>>-ten-doh). [Latin “agreement not to sue”] An agreement in which a creditor promises not to enforce the debt.
pactum de quota litis (pak-t<<schwa>>m dee kwoh-t<<schwa>> lI-tis). [Latin “agreement about a portion of the amount in issue”] An agreement in which a creditor promises to pay a portion of a difficult-to-collect debt to a person attempting to collect it; an agreement to share the proceeds of a litigation.
pactum de retrovendendo (pak-t<<schwa>>m dee re-troh-ven-den-doh). [Latin] An agreement concerning the selling back of an object. • This agreement gave the seller the right to repurchase the item sold within a certain period and at a fixed price. pactum de successione viventis (pak-t<<schwa>>m dee s<<schwa>>k-ses[h]-ee-oh-nee
vI-ven-tis). [Latin] See pactum corvinum de hereditate viventis.
pactum displicentiae (pak-t<<schwa>>m dis-pli-sen-shee-I).Roman law. A sale on approval. • The buyer had the property on trial and could reject it.
pactum donationis (pak-t<<schwa>>m doh-nay-shee-oh-nis). [Latin] An agreement to make a gift. • Justinian made such agreements enforceable. If informal, the agreement would be valid up to a fixed sum (500 solidi).
pactum illicitum (pak-t<<schwa>>m i-lis-<<schwa>>-t<<schwa>>m). [Latin] An illegal agreement.
pactum legis commissoriae (pak-t<<schwa>>m lee-jis kom-i-sor-ee-ee). [Latin] An agreement under which the seller received the benefit of the lex commissoria. See LEX COMMISSORIA.
pactum legis commissoriae in pignoribus (pak-t<<schwa>>m lee-jis kom-i-sor-ee-ee in pig-nor-<<schwa>>-b<<schwa>>s). [Law Latin] An agreement giving the pledgee the benefit of a forfeiture clause. See LEX COMMISSORIA.
“The pactum legis commissoriae in pignoribus was … a Roman law paction, sometimes adjected to a redeemable right, whereby it was provided, that, if the subject were not redeemed against a determinate day, the right of reversion should be irritated, and the subject should become the irredeemable property of him to whom it was impledged. Such stipulations were held in the Roman law to be contra bonos mores; but, by the law of Scotland, irritant clauses in contracts, obligations, infeftments, and the like, are effectual.” William Bell, Bell’s Dictionary and Digest of the Law of Scotland 758 (George Watson ed., 7th ed. 1890).
pactum liberatorium (pak-t<<schwa>>m lib-<<schwa>>r-<<schwa>>-tor-ee-<< schwa>>m). [Law Latin “a liberating agreement”] An agreement liberating parties from honoring a real right. • This type of agreement appears to have been long defunct.
pactum super hereditate viventis (pak-t<<schwa>>m s[y]oo-p<<schwa>>r h<< schwa>>-red-i-tay-tee vI-ven-tis). [Law Latin] See pactum corvinum de hereditate viventis.
[Blacks Law 8th]