PLANIOL

Planiol, “Classification des sources es obligations”, (1904) 33 //Rev. crit. légl & juris.// 224 - traditional view in France that obligations have 4 categories: //contrats, quasi contrats, délits, quasi-délits// - this is relatively new: from Pothier, who was probably basing his thought on Heineccius - “quasi-contract” is an inane idea – there //is no contract// or anything like it if no //volonté// of 2 parties: volonté (will) is essential to contracts; also, contracts require the obliged person to have //capacity// - “quasi-contracts” are not voluntary facts; it’s not the will of the party that creates the obligation - NOR is a quasi-contract “licit”: “On peut donc tenir pour certain que dans le quasi-contrat la cause réelle de l’obligation n’est ni un fait volontaire//, ni un fait licite//; c’est un fait //involontaire// et //illicite//” “//Ne pas nuire à autrui sans droit//.” = any obligation outside realm of contracts - any obligation that doesn’t derive from a contract “n’a d’autre cause que la **loi**” - any legal obligation has motif of //la crainte d’une lesion injuste pour autrui// and seeks to //evade// this (if looking to future – conventional language: “legal obligations”) or //repair/remedy// it (if already past – conventional language: “delictual,” “quasi-delictual” or “quasi-contractual”) - inexecution => damages - delictual, quasi-delictual or quasi-Kl just means transformation into money of a pre-existing **legal** duty 3 additional observations 1. every quasi-contract is an enrichment //sans cause//: essentially unilateral; but we read that quasi-Ks can be single obligation //or// reciprocal; remember that the obligation //always comes from the fear of an unjust lesion against another// 2. “quasi-delict” is a pretty recent notion and Heineccius’ interpretation of Roman law is false; note that arts. 1382 and 1383 do //not// distinguish delicts from quasi-delicts, but only recognize **FAULT** 3. Our modern notion of the delictual act is merely the generalization of the Roman system; “Confondus sous le nom de ‘fautes’, ils [les différents délits] dependent de l’opinion des juges” à need to maintain Roman system: **something is “illicite” b/c it’s “dommageable” and it’s “delictual” because it’s “illicit”; “l’existence d’un dommage n’est que la condition de fait qui ouvre l’action à la victime” (murder is //illicit// even before it is committed; damage is just the circumstance that gives rise to victim’s action)**
 * // In reality, there are only two sources of obligations: //**
 * 1) CONTRACTUAL (accord de __volontés__ entre créancier and débiteur) **
 * 2) NON-CONTRACTUAL (volonté de la __loi__ qui impose une ob à une personne dans l’intérêt d’une autre) **
 * Legal obligations ** : can be obligations to give, to do or not to do; abstention or prestation