IV. Sanctions

Question 1

A) Nullity
Art. 1178

Answer 1

A contract which does not satisfy the conditions required for its validity is a nullity.

Question 2

Art. 1179

Answer 2

– Nullity is absolute when the legal provision that is violated has as its object the safeguard of the general interest.
It is relative when the legal provision that is violated has as its sole object the safeguard of a private interest. (comme unique objet la sauvegarde d’un intérêt privé. )

Question 3

Art. 1180

Answer 3

Absolute nullity may be claimed by any person who can demonstrate an interest, as well as by the ministère public

Question 4

Art. 1181

Answer 4

Only the party that the law aims to protect (vise à protéger) may request relative nullity of the contract.
In case the interest at stake is private (où l’intérêt en jeu est privé), the party concerned may also confirm the contract, and therefore (et donc), the contract is not subject to nullity anymore

Question 5

Art. 1182

Answer 5

Confirmation is an act by which a person who could rely on the nullity of the contract waives the right to do so. This act must mention the subject-matter of the obligation and the ground affecting the contract.
Confirmation can take place only after the conclusion of the contract.

Question 6

Art. 1183

Answer 6

A party may claim in writing from a person who could rely on the nullity of the contract either to confirm it, or to seek action for nullity within a period of six months, on pain of losing the right to do so (sous peine de perdre le droit de le faire). The ground of nullity must have ceased.

Question 7

Art. 1184

Answer 7

When a ground of nullity affects only one or more terms of the contract, it entails the nullity of the whole contract only if this term or these terms constituted a decisive factor in the undertaking of the parties, or of one of them.