The privileging of the debtor (favor debitoris) is considered to be one of the central tendencies in the evolution of post-classical Roman law of obligations. In a narrow sense, the term favor debitoris refers to the principle of interpreting ambiguous contracts in favour of the debtor, while in a broader sense, it stands for a set of legislative measures which had the objective of enhancing the protection of the debtor who is typically a socially or economically weaker party in a contractual relationship.
Roman classical jurists assumed that law was designed for equal, economically and socially more or less empowered and legally aware subjects, who had to bear the burden of voluntarily assuming legal obligations, even though it might have been detrimental to them. From the imperial constitutions issued between the 4th and 6th centuries, however, it is possible to discern a shift in legal policy which was supposed to strengthen the position of the debtor. This dissertation examines the question of this shift, its manifestations, and evolutionary factors.
The main part of the dissertation is dedicated to the exegesis of selected passages from the Roman legal literature and, in particular, the imperial constitutions concerning the interpretation of legal transactions, the restrictions on contractual autonomy, termination of obligations, as well as securities and enforcement.
The analysis of selected constitutions revealed that social and economic changes in late ancient society were the central evolutionary factors of the principle of favor debitoris. These changes were characterised by oppressive taxation, demographic crisis, the decline of municipal autonomies, the government's anti-patronage movement and the corruption-ridden administrative and judicial apparatus.
The strengthening of debtors' rights was also encouraged by the official reaction to abuses in creditor-debtor relations in the provincial practices, which were influenced by non-Roman legal traditions, and by the legislator's intention to accelerate and improve civil litigation. The doctrine of the Eastern schools of law, which tended to simplify and generalise classical legal casuistry, may also have contributed to the change in legal policy, as did the related reception of the Stoic tradition, which stressed the application of humanity.
Despite the fact that legislative measures were to a certain extent in line with the Christian tradition and the teachings of the Church Fathers, the sources do not provide any direct evidence that the legislative reforms were deliberately intended to implement the ideals of Christian brotherly love, the remission of debts, and the protection of the weak.
The attempts to introduce social correctives into civil legal relations, which were increasingly evident in the development of Roman law between the 4th and 6th centuries, have inspired legislative reforms of civil law from the late 19th century to the present day.
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