Error in French civil law

In Contract law, the error is a false representation of an element of the Contrat by one of the parts. The belief of this part does not correspond to reality but all the same involved the concluding of a contract consequently vitiated. The error is with the fraud and the violence one of the three defect of the Consentement.

The pronunciation of a nullity by the judge answers two logics:

to ensure the safeguard of assent of that which was mistaken.
to ensure a stability of the contract by not allowing a too easy cancellation.

Various types of errors

The error-obstacle

The error-obstacle is of a gravity such as it makes obstacle with the meeting even wills. It can relate on the nature of the contract or the object of the contract. One speaks for example about obstacle error when somebody believes to sell a house whereas its contracting thinks just of renting it…

This type of error involves the absolute nullity.

The vice error of the assent

It acts mainly of an error on substancielles qualities of the Chose. The article of the Civil code French defines this type of error. To be regarded as a defect of the assent, this error must thus fall on the substance even from the object. Heard restrictivement, that corresponds to the matter whose thing is made. Gradually, jurisprudence widened this design, in order to include the substantial qualities , i.e. a quality of the thing which was regarded by the contractor as justifying his assent. Three cumulative conditions are necessary to implement the nullity of this type of error:

It is necessary to prove an error since famous the business Poussin

It should be proven that this error relates to substancielles qualities

It should be proven that this error was determining assent

It can also act of an error on the person. In theory this error is indifferent except if the contract were concluded intuitu personae .

To be accepted, thevice one of the assent must show certain characteristics: she must be excusable , i.e. the analysis of the situation did not make it possible to the contractor to realize some (this criterion is appreciated in concreto, the capacity of each person varying according to her personal knowledge, its age, its trade…).

The indifferent error

The indifferent error is an error which relates to secondary characteristics of the object, nondetermining of the formation of the contract. It is thus not sanctioned. It can be on the value or the reasons for the contract. If the reason for the contract were the subject of a stipulation express, then exceptionally, the indifferent error will be sanctioned.

The implementation of the sanction of the error

So that the error is cancelled, this one must present the character of excusable. The errans (that which calls upon the error) will not be protected if it is discovered that it had information in its possession or that it could have gotten them easily, in order to put an end to this error.

Since the stop of the Bolt of Fragonard , one says that “the risk drives out the error”, i.e. it is not necessary that a risk entered the fields contractual so that the error is sanctioned.

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