Foundational Legal Concepts Explained
Classified in Law & Jurisprudence
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Legal Facts
Events that matter to the law, producing a legal effect, i.e., as a result of the fact, a right is born, modified, or terminated. For example, in a contract of sale, the buyer acquires the right to demand the purchased item, and the seller acquires the right to demand payment. A debtor, by paying cash (which must be money or an equivalent), extinguishes their obligation to the creditor.
Legal Person
A legal person (or corporation) is a subject of rights and obligations, not physically present as an individual human being, but as an institution created by one or more individuals to fulfill a role. In other words, a legal person is any entity with the capacity to acquire rights and incur obligations that is not a natural person. Thus, alongside natural persons, there are legal persons, which are entities to which the law grants and recognizes legal personality. This grants them the capacity to act as legal subjects, meaning they can acquire and possess property of all kinds, incur obligations, and initiate legal proceedings.
Vices of Will in Legal Acts
A declaration of will in a legal act is considered voluntary when it is serious, sincere, free, and spontaneous. If any of these elements are absent, the legal act may not produce its intended effects. These characteristics can be affected by 'vices of will', which include:
- Vices affecting discernment: Immaturity and insanity.
- Vices affecting intention: Error or ignorance, and deceit (malice).
- Vices affecting freedom: Violence, simulation, and fraud (some legal scholars also include lesion).
Legal acts containing these defects of consent are not considered to have been made with true intention and freedom, rendering them potentially invalid.
The Concept of a Legal Obligation
A legal obligation is a legal relationship between two parties (a creditor and a debtor) where the debtor is bound to perform a specific prestation (performance). This prestation may involve giving, doing, or refraining from doing something. In the cases of giving or doing, the prestation must be possible, lawful, and commercially viable. The object of the obligation must be determined or determinable.