Consensus
The development of the consensual contracts generally, and of the rules relating to the contract of sale in particular, is one of the most remarkable achievements of Roman jurisprudence.
The Roman law of sale has provided us with the basic tools for our modern analysis of this economically most important of contracts, and it has invariably shaped our way of thinking about sale, irrespective of whether certain individual rules were preserved or rejected. Even where modern legislators have chosen not to follow the example of Roman law, the latter provides the background against which to evaluate such a decision and to appreciate its implications. Thus, the Roman law of sale has been emphatically described as "the most fruitful subject in Roman law for the English law-student";[1199] and one could apply this statement with even greater justification to the English law student's Continental or South African counterpart.The contract of sale (emptio venditio) was purely consensual. The sole basis for the respective obligations to deliver the goods and to pay the purchase price was the agreement between seller and purchaser. No form was needed, no witnesses had to be present, no rei interventio was required.
2.
More on the topic Consensus:
- CONSENSUS
- Consensual contracts (contractus consensu) were contracts constituted by the mere agreement (consensus) of the parties.
- 4. Common mistake
- Apostrophes
- Societas
- Consent as the basis of contract in modern law
- Emptio Venditio
- Classic Federations
- Verbal contracts (contractus verbis)were contracts that were created by the use of certain formal words (verbis solemnibus).
- Dissolution of Marriage
- The consensual element of mutuum
- Termination of the societas
- Coactus volui, tamen volui
- ACKNOWLEDGMENT
- Content and Classification of Contracts
- Pacta vestita and pacta nuda
- Defects in Agreement
- The development of the modern error doctrine
- Outline of the Book
- Domestic economic context