De transactionibus axiomata

AXIOM I.

Large drop cap TThe word transigere to settle, like many others in law, is sometimes general and sometimes special.

II.
This is the prior and general meaning, that to settle means to bring any business or matter to an end in any way. Hence, authors of law also call those matters settled which have been decided and finished either by oath, by judgment, or by a contract made for the sake of a gift.

III.
But in a more special and proper meaning, it refers to a convention by which an end is put to controversies, not indeed gratuitously, but with something accepted, promised, or retained. In this meaning, it differs from gratuitous pacts, matters already judged, and finished cases.

IIII.
In this meaning, a transactio settlement is defined thus: it is a non-gratuitous convention for the sake of deciding a doubtful matter or a lawsuit.

V.
For the purpose of correctly investigating the nature of a settlement, four things are necessary, upon which a settlement will exist; if one is removed, it will not exist; our definition embraces these most briefly:
First, that the lawsuit be ended:
Second, that the lawsuit be doubtful:
Third, that it be ended by consent:
Fourth, that it be ended by a certain law or a certain condition.