Acceptilatio
is defined to be a release by mutual interrogation between debtor and creditor, by which
each party is exonerated from the same contract. In other words,
acceptilatio is the form of words by which a creditor releases his debtor from a
debt or obligation, and acknowledges he has received that which in fact he has not received.
This release of debt by
acceptilatio applies only to such debts
as have been contracted by
stipulatio (q. v.), conformably to a rule of
Roman law, that only contracts made by words can be put an end to by words. But the astuteness
of the Roman lawyers found a mode of complying with the rule, and at the same time extending
the acceptilatio to all kinds and to any number of contracts. This was the invention of
Aquilius Gallus, who devised a formula for reducing all and every kind of contracts to the
stipulatio. This being done, the acceptilatio would immediately apply,
inasmuch as the matter was by such formula brought within the general rule of law above
mentioned. See
Novatio.
