Definition
Correi debendi (singular: correus debendi) is a Latin phrase from Scots law denoting two or more persons who are bound as principal debtors to another party. Each debtor in this relationship holds the status of a principal obligor — not a surety or guarantor — meaning each is primarily and directly liable for the debt. The concept is essentially the Scots law formulation of co-principal debtors in a joint or joint-and-several obligation.
Common Confusion
Correi debendi should not be confused with suretyship or cautionary obligations (the Scots law equivalent of suretyship), where one party's liability is secondary to and contingent upon the default of a principal debtor. In the correi debendi relationship, all parties are principals. The distinction matters in historical Scottish sources because the legal consequences — including the creditor's right to pursue any one debtor for the whole — flow from principal status, not from secondary obligation.
Why It Matters in Research
This term appears almost exclusively in historical Scots law materials and in legal dictionaries drawing from those sources. Researchers will encounter it primarily when working with older Scottish institutional writers, particularly Erskine's Institutes, which is the foundational citation for the term's definition. It rarely appears in modern legal literature or contemporary Scots law practice, where the concept is absorbed into general principles of joint and several liability.
The key research trap is treating this as a Roman law term with direct analogues across civilian jurisdictions. While the term is Latin in form and reflects civilian influence on Scots law, its usage in historical sources is largely specific to the Scottish institutional tradition. Researchers using English common law dictionaries who encounter this term should be alert that it signals a Scots law source or a writer working within the civilian tradition, not English equity or common law.
Cross-corpus researchers moving between Scots law materials and general British legal sources should also note that the correlative term correi credendi (two or more persons holding as co-creditors) appears in the same institutional context and is the mirror concept on the creditor side of the obligation.
Historical Dictionary Support
Black's Law Dictionary defines correi debendi concisely as "two or more persons bound as principal debtors to another" and cites Erskine's Institutes (3, 3, 74) as the authoritative source. This is a narrow and accurate characterization. The entry does not elaborate on the mechanics of the obligation — whether it is joint, several, or joint-and-several — because those distinctions were addressed by Erskine directly rather than in the dictionary gloss.
Historical dictionaries beyond Black's do not substantially develop this term, which reflects its limited circulation outside of Scots law scholarship. The reliance on Erskine as the sole supporting citation across sources suggests that correi debendi had a settled, narrow meaning within the institutional tradition and was not a term subject to significant doctrinal dispute or evolution. Researchers should go directly to Erskine's Institutes for substantive treatment rather than expecting dictionary sources to supply it.
Jurisdictional Note
This term is specific to Scots law and the Scottish institutional tradition. It has no direct English common law equivalent and does not appear in Irish, American, or other common law jurisdictions except as an occasional comparative reference. Modern Scots law scholarship and Scottish courts do not routinely employ the Latin terminology, preferring plain descriptions of joint and several liability.