Legal facts and legal acts: an overview from In Supreme Dignitatis 1343

The Legal Relevance of Events and Actions

Legal facts and legal acts Æ DIGN JPRE TAS IN SU GNITATIS 1343The legal relevance of events and actions Not any event that may take place or any action that may be undertaken triggers legal effects.

Events and Actions Irrelevant for the Law

Events and action irrelevant for the law Events and action before irrelevant than become relevant How is it possible to identify events or actions that carry legal effects? Tautological answer -> Legal norms make specific events or behaviour legally relevant by attributing to them legal consequences Æ DIGA IN SUPRE NITATIS 1343The legal relevance of events and actions

Legal Facts and Their Classification

Legal facts > all events and actions that are legally relevant are classified that way A state of affairs provided for by a norm may consist of a single event or action Example: IF a chattel is delivered by the seller to the buyer, THEN the latter acquire its possession More frequently, states of affairs instead consist of a whole chain of events and/or actions Any event or action of the chain may produce (partial or preliminary) legal effects or acts >legal facts Relativity of legal effect Æ JPRE DIGA IN SU GNITATIS 1343Examples

1. I go to church every Sunday, and this Sunday I decide not to go
2. I lose a bet with a colleague, and I decided not to pay
3. I go to church by bus, and today I decide not to pay the ticket
4. I ask to a friend to bring me to the church
5. I have a son, and I visit him once a week, then I decide not to go anymore
6. I confess to my friend that I've kissed his/her partner
7. The former friend, after the confession, punch me in the face
8. I ask a dancing teacher to help me to learn the wedding dance for my marriage
9. My partner and I start living together outside marriage

Three Types of Legal Facts/Acts

JPRE Æ DIGA IN SU NITATIS 1343Three types of legal facts/acts RIP 3 3 4 SALES CONTRACT VThe tripartite taxonomy of legal facts Distinction depending on the relevance of private will in the fact and its effect

1. Material facts > are natural events that are of legal effect in these cases, the human consciousness and wilfulness is irrelevant
2. Heteronomous legal acts > human actions that carry legal effect irrespective of will by the author/-s The author wants to do the actions, but it does not matter if s/he wants the legal effects
3. Autonomous legal acts (or legal transaction) -> declarations of will that are intended to achieve a change in the rights and duties of the author/-s The author/-s want the act as well as its effect

1. Material Facts Explained

EM IN SUPRE DIG GNITATIS 32 13431. Material facts Some legal facts are addressed by a norm irrespective of the particular judgment or discernment of their authors > they simply consist in natural events Examples: a person dies -> title to her property vests in the heirs a person is born > she start be entitled to personal rights after a flood one's land and the island in the middle of the river are no longer separated > the one's ownership is extended to the former island The law provides legal effects notwithstanding the interested party's will that the facts occur

2. Heteronomous Legal Acts Explained

EM Æ DIGN IN SUPRE TATIS 13432. Heteronomous legal acts Why are they called heteronomous? Because their legal effects are stipulated by the norms, not by their authors Will of action but not of legal effect A person can freely decide whether or not to undertake certain action, but she cannot elect the legal effects attached thereto Condition of its validity: they must be done by their author with sufficient judgment and discernment of her own action Examples: If you did not pay the debt on time, you will default If you change your residential address, communications will be sent to your new address the driver ran a red light and hit a pedestrian crossing the road, he must compensate the damage

3. Autonomous Legal Acts (Legal Transaction)

EM IN SUPRE Æ DIGI GNITATIS 13433. Autonomous legal acts (legal transaction) Why are they called autonomous? Because their legal effects are stipulated by their authors > the effects comes from individuals' will Will of action and legal effect Legal act that consists in someone's declaration of will (be it through language or by conduct) that is intended to achieve a change in the rights and duties of its author (legal effect) How it can be possible? The law provides people with the so-called private autonomy What is private autonomy? It is the power of every person to produce a legal effect on her own property or her own personality, to the extent to which the law does not impose any mandatory prohibition against doing SO. Condition of its validity: to be valid, they must be stipulated by their author with sufficient judgment and discernment of the own action and of their legal effects

3. Examples of Legal Transactions

Æ DIC EM IN SUPR NIT TATIS 13433. Examples of legal transactions V In 2000, a wine shop entered into a contract with a wine supplier without a time limit. In 2023, the owner of the wine shop decides to terminate the contract and look for a supplier of natural wines. / Dario wants to buy a house. He finds one he likes and concludes the deal with Elisabetta, who sells her family home to Dario. Alessandro and Tiziana got married on 20 February and are now a family V Andrea, an 85-year-old man, goes to the notary to make a testament in view of his death V Bank A., Bank B. and Bank C. merged to form a new Bank D.

Types of Autonomous Legal Acts

Æ DIGA IN SUPRI GNITATIS 1343Autonomous legal acts play a major role in private law They can be classified according to several features: From the point of view of their structure ...

• Unilateral only exceptionally they can produce effects over others' spheres V Withdrawal from a contract v Last will
• Bilateral V Contract V Marriage
• Multilateral V Company bylaws From the point of view of their content ...
• Patrimonial >broader autonomy V Contract V Last will
• Non-patrimonial narrower autonomy V Marriage From the point of view of their purpose ...
• Inter vivos
• Mortis causa UNIVERSITÀ DI PISA Types of autonomous legal acts IN SUPRI Æ DIGN NITATIS 1343Definition of contract

Definition of Contract

Definition by the Italian Civil Code Articolo 1321: "the agreement of two or more parties to constitute, settle or extinguish a patrimonial legal relationship between them" Agreement as essential element V Oral or written (mandatory form only when required) Bilateral or multilateral Patrimonial Aimed at producing legal effects Binding force of legal effects among contracting parties UNIVERSITÀ DI PISA

Essential Elements of a Contract

JPRE IN SU DIGA GNITATIS 1343Essential elements of a contract Agreement -> declarations of will that is shared by all parties involved in the contract Object -> the outcome that the transaction is calculated objectively to produce V It must not be confused with motive, the outcome that the contract subjectively produce to the party -> motives are legally irrelevant Subject matter > whatever the declarer is making disposition of, in other words the content of the legal transaction Form -> the manner in which the agreement is formally recorded -> It is essential only if mandatory required

Essential Elements - Example

Æ IN SUPRA DIG NIT ATIS 1343Essential elements - example A contract by which A acquires a flat from B V Agreement -> the consensus between the parties that they intend the transfer of the property from B to A Object the transfer itself of the flat at a price of €75,000 / Subject matter -> the flat and the purchase price Form as a transfer of immoveable property is involved, Art 1350 of the civil code requires that agreement must be recorded in a written form UNIVERSITÀ DI PISA

The Invalidity of Autonomous Legal Acts

JPRE IN SU Æ DIGN GNITATIS 1343The invalidity of autonomous legal acts We distinguish two type of invalidity of autonomous legal acts A. The legal acts violates or circumvents a mandatory prohibition, or it lacks an essential elements -> Nullity of the act B. The will of one of the parties is somehow influenced with a deficiency of judgment or discernment > Voidability UNIVERSITÀ DI PISA

Nullity of the Act

JPRE Æ DIGN GNITATIS IN SU 1343The invalidity of autonomous legal acts Nullity of the act When? ✓ A legal act may be void because it is illegal, or ✓ Because its content is indefinite or vague or impossible to be performed ✓ It lacks a mandatory formal requirement Consequence > Tamquam non esset > as if it did not exist > ineffective from the outset

Voidability of Legal Acts

Voidability of the legal acts When? V because one of the parties had no capacity to act (e.g. a minor) parties' consent was affected by a factor of irrationality (mistake, fraud, duress and undue influence) Consequence > the acts is provisionally effective, but the aggrieved party can apply for the annulment of the act JPRE Æ DIG NIT IN SU TATIS . 1343