From public law to private law: The remarkable story of bona fides

Abstract

This Chapter examines the evolving principle of good faith. The informing legal principle has shaped the law of contracts for centuries and it has been introduced for the first time under Roman law. Therefore, this Chapter illustrates the origins and evolution of the Roman concept of bona fides until the modern evolution of the same principle under the CISG and UPICC at International level as well as the PECL, CFR and CESL at European level. In this light, a new dimension of bona fides is discovered in its private dimension. The aim of this Chapter is to highlight the different perspective of the study of bona fides from public law to private law. Indeed, a privatisation of good faith can be seen as a natural development, but at the same time its construction as a general clause has privatised its meaning contributing to a possible denaturalisation of the entire concept.