Definition
A Latin term from the civil law denoting two or more persons bound together by the same obligation. The term appears most often in two specific forms:
1. Correi credendi — joint creditors; two or more creditors secured by the same obligation, each entitled to demand performance in full (creditors in solido).
2. Correi debendi — joint principal debtors; two or more persons bound as principal debtors to pay or perform the same obligation to another. The liability is mutual and co-extensive, not divided among the parties.
The singular form, correus, refers to a single party in such a relationship. The plural correi designates the group collectively. The term encompasses what modern common law would call joint obligors or joint obligees, depending on which subspecies applies.
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): An alternative form of "corrie" — a hollow or bowl-shaped depression on the side of a hill or mountain, where game typically shelters.
Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): "A hollow in the side of a hill, where game usually lies."
The common English word "correi" (or "corrie") is a Scottish geographical and hunting term with no connection to the Latin legal term. A researcher encountering "correi" in a historical Scottish legal text must determine from context whether the author means the civil-law obligation concept or the topographical feature. Given that Scots law drew heavily on the civil law tradition, the legal meaning is by far the more probable reading in any legal instrument or treatise.
Recognized Forms
/SUBTYPES
Correi credendi — joint creditors under a single obligation; each creditor may demand full performance from the debtor(s).
Correi debendi — joint principal debtors; each is liable for the full performance of the obligation, not merely a proportional share.
Correus (singular) — a single party to such a joint obligation, whether creditor or debtor depending on context.
Why It Matters in Research
Correi is primarily a term of the civil law tradition and surfaces most frequently in Scots law sources, Roman law materials, and treatises that engage directly with civilian doctrine. Researchers working in the Law Mind corpus should note several navigational points.
First, the term is almost entirely absent from English common law sources. Its appearance in an English-language document is a strong signal that the text is either (a) a Scots law instrument, (b) a treatise translating or synthesizing civil law principles, or (c) a comparative law discussion. If you encounter correi in an unexpected common law context, treat it as a term of art imported from the civilian tradition, not as a domesticated common law concept.
Second, the distinction between correi credendi and correi debendi is substantively important and easy to collapse. Bouvier and Black's (2nd ed.) both distinguish them, but earlier or less rigorous sources may use correi without specifying which relationship is meant. Check which party — creditor or debtor — is being described before drawing conclusions about liability or entitlement.
Third, Scots law researchers will find correi debendi particularly significant. Erskine's Institutes (the source cited by both Bouvier and Black's 2nd ed.) addresses the concept at Book 3, Title 3, and the surrounding discussion clarifies how joint debtor relationships operated under Scots common law, which differed in important respects from both English common law joint liability and pure Roman law. Bell's Dictionary, also cited in the corpus sources, is another natural starting point for Scots law treatment.
Fourth, the civil law concept underlying correi — solidarity of obligation — maps imperfectly onto the common law categories of joint liability, several liability, and joint and several liability. Do not assume equivalence when translating between traditions. A correus debendi is not simply a "joint and several debtor" in the common law sense; the structural logic of the obligation differs.
Historical Dictionary Support
The four source dictionaries align on the core meaning but vary in depth and emphasis. Black's (1st ed.) and Burrill offer the briefest treatment — co-stipulators or joint stipulators — which is accurate but strips out the creditor/debtor distinction that gives the term its practical utility. Burrill adds a reference to Heineccius's Elementa Juris Civilis, a standard authority on Roman law, which situates the term squarely in the civil law tradition and points researchers toward primary civilian sources.
Bouvier and Black's (2nd ed.) are more useful because both distinguish correi credendi from correi debendi explicitly and provide citation trails: Pothier's Obligations for the creditor side, Erskine's Institutes for the debtor side. These citations remain valuable starting points for anyone needing doctrinal depth. Black's (2nd ed.) also notes the Scotch law application directly, which Bouvier phrases more obliquely.
No source in the corpus addresses what happens when the correi relationship intersects with insolvency, assignment, or the death of one party — gaps that a researcher relying solely on dictionary definitions will need to fill from treatise sources.
Jurisdictional Note
Correi is a live term of art in Scots law and in jurisdictions that received the civil law tradition. In English common law jurisdictions, the concept exists but is expressed through the vocabulary of joint and several liability rather than through the civilian terminology. Researchers working in mixed jurisdictions (Louisiana, Quebec, South Africa) may encounter correi in sources that blend civilian and common law frameworks.