GOOD FAITH AND ITS ROLE IN THE EVOLUTION OF CONTRACT LAW

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to highlight the role which good faith has served in the ongoing development of contract law doctrine and legislation. The convergences between good faith as it was present in Roman law and in the modern Romanian legislation highlight a variety of ideas which, even to this day, prove to be a useful instrument in the quest to diminish contractual formalism. In the first part of the article, we identify how good faith had gained legal status. In Roman law, the changes in the economy dictated the need for legal instruments which would better cater to the interest of the upper echelon of society. Thus came to force the good faith actions which at the time were considered innovative solutions which in turn would cover unforeseen circumstances that occurred in economic dealings. In Romania the concept of good faith as it relates to contract law is a relatively new concept given that the previous legislation focused mainly on subjective good faith and labeled it as a general rule with little theoretical support and even less practical implications in contractual matters. The second part of the article focuses on how the recent enactment of the Romanian Civil Code has transformed good faith into a key cog in several contract law institutions and why the similarities with Roman law provide interest in regard to present and future application. In the last part we will try to correlate how the historical application of good faith presents the blueprint as to how this concept will translate in the Romanian national legal system in theory and in practice in the years to come.