Donations Between Concubines: Evolution of Court Rulings on Good Morals and Adulterous Relationships in French Law
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Court of Cassation, donations between concubines, good morals, adulterous relationship, jurisprudence, Civil Code, contract law, law of obligations
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Abstract
"Discover the evolving landscape of French law regarding donations between concubines. Learn how the Court of Cassation's landmark judgments have shifted the perspective on what constitutes a 'cause contrary to good morals', making donations in adulterous relationships valid. Understand the implications for inheritance, contracts, and the role of morality in legal decisions."
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[...] Now, the term also designates a condition of validity of the contract, becoming a concept related to the formation of conventions and no longer only to their execution. This term has replaced, at least from a notional point of view, the object and the cause dear to the drafters of the Civil Code of 1804. It is necessary to understand that the content of the contract refers to what existed in the matter of the object of the contract in the old article 1128 of the Civil Code, which provided that only things that are in commerce can be the object of conventions. [...]
[...] However, this vision can be contested on the basis of contract law and the opposability of the contract to third parties. Indeed, the latter are not bound by the relative effect of the contract, but on the other hand, they must respect it, failing which third parties could see their tort liability engaged. So, this could be transposed to marriage; the adulterous concubine who is aware of her partner's marriage and who accepts a gift with full knowledge of the facts and thus harms the marriage, could she not see her tort liability engaged? [...]
[...] Question: Does a donation made in the context of an adulterous relationship have a cause contrary to good morals? The Court of Cassation responds negatively and quashes and annuls the judgment rendered by the Court of Appeal of referral on the basis of Articles and 1133 of the Civil Code, on the grounds that "the donation made in the context of an adulterous relationship is not null as having a cause contrary to good morals". The highest French jurisdiction therefore moves from a prohibition to an acceptance of donations between concubines in order to make the solution conform to the evolution of society (II). [...]
[...] This necessity ultimately only takes up the solutions developed by the courts, before the reform, on the basis of the subjective cause. This solution regarding gifts between concubines therefore remains the same before and after the reform. Reflection Article 1128 of the Civil Code requires the contract to have licit and certain content". Reflection on the term "content". To what does it refer? What can be included in the content of a contract? To what notions has this term been substituted?" ? [...]
[...] Court of Cassation, Plenary Assembly October 2004, n°03-11.238 - Does a donation made in the context of an adulterous relationship have a cause contrary to good morals? Court of Cassation, Plenary Assembly October 2004 The new article 1162 of the Civil Code, resulting from the reform of the law of obligations preced [...]
