Liability in Roman Law of obligations and its effects in contemporary law

HI ABSTRACT LIABILITY IN ROMAN LAW OF OBLIGATIONS AND ITS EFFECTS IN CONTEMPORARY LAW Elvan SÜTKEN Department of Private Law Anadolu University Social Sciences Institute, August 2003 Advisor: Assc. Prof. A. Nadi GÜNAL Liability, which is a subject that we can encounter in most of the fields of law is an important and indispensable element of the law of obligations. While liability is in principle a comprehensive subject, it has in our study been especially examined with regard to the term, culpa. Limited in this way, the subject of liability has been analyzed with regard to Roman Law and the effects of Roman Law on contemporary law has also been mentioned. In the first part of our thesis, the term obligation, which is closely related with the term liability is evaluated according to the knowledge that is gained from the Roman Law sources. The original form of the term liability has been explained according to these sources. After the legal events that bring forth the relations concerning obligations are classified according to various sources, nexum, which is known as the bases of the primitive contract is also examined. Subsequently, the principles of liability are evaluated chronologically and finally, the contemporary situation is also mentioned. In the second part of the thesis, the objective and the subjective liability in Roman Law are examined. At first, the term objective liability is explained and its special situations are evaluated. Subsequently, subjective liability is examined as a term and culpa is defined, its existence determined and it is classified according to its importance. After the explanation of the kinds of subjective liability, the conditions of exclusion clauses are mentioned and the study is concluded.