Contractual obligations in Roman law: The genesis of the main forms

Abstract

Roman law is the basis for many modern Western European legal systems, and it is used by the vast majority of modern researchers and lawyers. Obligations are one of the main legal means by which trade turnover was regulated at various stages of human development. The relevance of the subject of the study lies in the fact that the examination of the grounds for the emergence of obligations in Roman law allows for determining ways to improve the legal regulation of relevant legal relations in modern realities. The purpose of this study is to investigate the emergence of the institution of contractual obligations and its individual types in Roman private law. Using the method of analysis and synthesis, the differences in the system of grounds for the emergence of obligations at different stages of the development of this institution are highlighted. The study analyses the concept of a contract as one of the grounds for the emergence of obligations in Roman private law. The system of obligations of Ancient Rome is briefly described. The main stages of the evolution of binding legal relations of the historical period under consideration are highlighted. The views of various researchers on the grounds for the emergence of obligations in Roman private law are examined. It is concluded that the first types of obligations in Ancient Rome were those that arose from offences (torts), and contractual obligations appeared later as a result of improving the legal system. The study examines how views on the grounds for the emergence of an obligation have changed, in which the leading role is no longer assigned to torts, as it was in early Roman law, but to contracts (deals). The practical value of the study lies in the fact that after the analysis conducted, it became possible to compare and improve the modern system of obligations under Roman private law.

Keywords

• contracts
• pacts
• claims
• torts
• stipulation
• innovation