Execution of the judgment

In classical times, execution of the judgment was mainly against the property of the debtor and not against the debtor himself (personal execution). If the judge accepted the plaintiff’s claim, the defendant had to comply with the condemnatory judgment debt (iudicatum).

If the defendant did not pay the judgment within thirty days, the plaintiff could sue the defendant in a special action called actio iudicati. This action was introduced following the standards and procedural rules of any other action. It usually concluded, however, before the praetor, in the stage in iure, by a decree in which the praetor ordered the fulfillment of the judgment debt and authorized execution against the goods of the debtor (missio in bona). Only under certain exceptions - for instance, when the defendant affirmed that he had already paid the judgment or that the judgment constituted a flagrant violation of the law - would the suit go before a judge again. If the defendant did not prove his allegations, he would be condemned to pay double.

The decree of missio in bona implied that the creditor could administer the whole insolvent debtor’s property (not just goods sufficient to meet the debt) on behalf of all creditors of the debtor. The decree was followed by a public auction managed by a magister appointed by the creditors under the supervision of the praetor. The praetor issued an interdict to protect the buyer when obtaining the goods belonging to the debtor. The debtor was declared infamous, a condition that produced not only harm to his reputation but also certain legal disabilities (ineligibility for being a judge, among others). Augustus mitigated the bluntness of this procedure by introducing the

possibility that the debtor’s goods would be sold up to the extent of the debt but not beyond that.

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Source: Domingo Rafael. Roman Law: An Introduction. Routledge,2018. — 252 p.. 2018

Execution of the judgment

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