Nullity of Insurance Contract due to Illicit Object

Extract

[...] In a judgment rendered on July the Nanterre Court of First Instance declared the contract null and void due to the assignment of a civil clientele. The manager of the company 'Deux Moulins' is considering appealing to contest this judgment and wants to know the opportunity to appeal and wonders about the consequences of nullity. In law, Article 1128 of the former Civil Code provides that: « it is only things that are in commerce that can be the object of conventions" (article 1128 of the former Civil Code)." Therefore, for the judge, civil clientèles cannot be the object of a contract because they are not in commerce, so it is not possible to transfer them. [...]

[...] Two questions: what is the legal basis for this cancellation and what is the fate of the insurance contract? In law, each person has the right to respect for their body and the human body is inviolable according to Article 16 of the Civil Code. In addition, it is specified that « the respect due to the human body does not cease with death. The remains of deceased persons, including the ashes of those whose body has been cremated, must be treated with respect, dignity and decencydecency. [...]

[...] Consequently, according to the jurisprudence of 7 November 2000, the contract would not be seen as illicit and therefore declared null. Hence, and for this reason, it would be opportune to appeal this judgment. Regarding the consequences of nullity, it is the sanction of the invalidity of a convention. The retroactive annulment of the contract makes the contractual norms disappear retroactively, which will require the procedure to be carried out in accordance with the law in force at the time of the contract's conclusion.the to restitutions if the contract has reand commencement of execution. [...]

[...] Consequently, this contract has received a commencement of execution and the judgment of July 30 last declared this contract null. Thus, it is as if it had never existed and it makes retroactive the contractual obligations. Therefore, by this judgment, the sum of 20,000 euros will have to be restituted. Case No. 2 Mr. Tolbiac concluded a contract with the PMF company to organize a paid exhibition of human bodies plastified. He concluded an insurance contract with the Assuranstourix company and the exhibition was forbidden the day after its opening. The contract with the PMF company was cancelled. [...]

[...] Thus, in this case, the insurance contract which had the object of guaranteeing the consequences of the annulment of an exhibition using human remains and organs for commercial purposes had an illicit cause and, consequently, it was null. In the present case, Mr. Tolbiac had entered into an insurance contract for his lucrative exhibition and the latter was prohibited. This prohibition is based on Article 16-1-1 of the Civil Code, which has the effect of rendering null and void any agreements contravening the principle of dignity. Thus, the insurance contract also has an illicit cause, so that this contract will be null and void. [...]