Journal on European History of Law (Dec 2011)
The Term “Causa” in Roman Law and in the Later Legal Science
Abstract
This article concerns with the problem of the “cause” of the legal obligations. It traces the origin of the term “cause” from the philosophy of Aristotle and the ways in which this term was used in the Roman legal science. The article aims at the various definitions of the term “cause” in their linguistic, philosophical and legal definitions. The importance of the “cause” in the Roman law of obligations is demonstrated with the help of the most important Roman verbal contract - stipulation. During the evolution of the private Roman law stipulation was present in the both form either causal or abstract. The second part of the article concerns with the later destiny of Roman law cause doctrine, in – as it is usually called – medieval ius commune. The doctrine of “cause” had a significant influence for the evolution of the Czech municipal law and we can find several remarks either in the Municipal Law (Práva městská) of Pavel Kristián Koldín or in the Austrian civil code (ABGB) or in the previous edition of the Czech civil code (Občanský zákoník).
