Conditio (condition) in Roman Law

ABSTRACT CONDİCİO İN ROMAN LAW Duygu ÖZER SARITAŞ Department of Private Law Anadolu University Social Sciences Institute, July 2003-06-11 Advisor: Assc. Prof. A. Nadi GÜNAL The general principle is that at the moment a legal transaction is made it constitutes legal consequences. However sometimes the validity and legal consequences of a legal transactions may be bound to a future and uncertain event. A condition is a special element that provides a person with insert it to a legal transaction. A condition is a clause by means of which the effectiveness of a transaction is made dependent upon the occurrencee or non occurrences of a future and uncertain event. Conditions are said to be either "suspensive" (conditio suspensiva) or "resolutive" (conditio resolutiva), that is, they either suspend or delay the actual beginning or formation of a contract or dissolve or put an end to a contract already formed. In other words a contract subject to a suspensive condition is binding only in case the condition is first fulfilled, while a conract having a resolutive condition attacted to it is binding immediately but will cease to have any binding force upon the breach of the condition. In Roman Law only suspensive condition was known. The phrase "sub condicionem" was for them tantamount to effecting a transaction under a suspensive condition. Furthermore conditions may be positive and negative, casuales and potestativa and mixed. Conditions of any sort may the pleasure of the parties be attached to a contract, providing the condition imposed is not something illegal or impossible.