Explanation of Article 595
The article clarifies the ruling in the event of multiple guarantors and the extent to which the guaranteed debt is divided among them, imposing two scenarios for this:
First Scenario: Multiple guarantors in a single contract.
In this scenario, the debt is divided among them, and each does not bear the entire debt; this is because the unity of the contract indicates that each guarantor relied on the other guarantors. Thus, the debt is divided among them according to their agreed-upon shares, explicitly or implicitly, in the contract. For instance, if there are three guarantors and the debt is six hundred, and the first guarantees half, while the second and third each guarantee a quarter, then the first is liable for three hundred, and the second and third are each liable for one hundred and fifty. If the share of each is not specified, the debt is divided equally among them, making each liable for two hundred, as the absence of specified shares indicates equality among them, as there is no other way to divide it.
In this case, the guarantor can object to the creditor's demand for the full debt by invoking the division of the debt. The court can even rule on this division on its own, even if the guarantor does not invoke it, because the debt is divided among the guarantors from the time of the contract's conclusion, not from the time of invoking it.
For the division of the debt in this scenario, the following conditions outlined in the article must be met:
First Condition: Multiple guarantors; this is an obvious condition because if a single guarantor guarantees the debt, the creditor can revert to him, and this guarantor cannot invoke division between him and the debtor.
Second Condition: The multiple guarantors must be for a single debt; if two guarantors guarantee different debts for a single debtor, neither debt is divided among them. Therefore, a guarantor cannot invoke the division of the debt between him and another guarantor because the first guaranteed the guaranteed debt, and the second guaranteed the guarantor's debt, and the guaranteed debt is different from the guarantor's debt.
Third Condition: The guarantors must not be jointly liable among themselves or jointly liable with the debtor; because jointly liable debtors can be reverted to for the entire debt according to the rules of joint liability. If some are jointly liable with the debtor but not with the other guarantors, the debt is divided for the non-jointly liable guarantor but not for the jointly liable one.
Second Scenario: Multiple guarantors in multiple contracts:
In this scenario, each is responsible for the entire debt, even if they guarantee a single debt and a single debtor, because the multiplicity of their contracts indicates that each did not rely on the other guarantors. If the creditor reverts to any of them for the entire debt, the one who pays the entire debt can revert to the others. If the creditor collects part of the debt from one of them, the creditor can revert to any other guarantor for the remaining debt.
It is evident that even in this scenario, if some or all of them stipulate the right to division, the debt is divided for those who stipulated it.
From the previous scenarios, it is clear that in the case of multiple guarantors, the debt may be divided among the guarantors, or each may be responsible for the entire debt due to their joint liability, or each may be responsible for the entire debt due to their liability in the debt, not their joint liability; this is in the case of multiple contracts or multiple debts.
Related To
Article 595
In case of multiple sureties for a single debt, a claim may be made against each surety for the full payment of the debt, unless the suretyship of all the sureties is under a single contract and such contract does not stipulate that they are jointly and severally liable; in such case, the liability of each surety shall be proportionate to his obligation in the suretyship.