A Historical Introduction to the Law of Obligations

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More specifically it might flow from a delict , from the giving of a dowry , from a legacy or from a judgement . Although the obligatio connotes a relationship between persons, in a specific context it might refer to that relationship from the standpoint of the person bound. This is clear, for example, [when]… One person makes a stipulatio with his neighbour that his eaves might project over the neighbour’s land, and then buys a second property. It is said that the original stipulatio (probably) does not apply to the second house, lest the obligatio promissionis be increased. When the senatus consultum Velleianum regulated obligationes of women, it was transparently referring to their being bound . Similarly, a transfer of a slave to be freed by the transferee after the death of the transferor is said to create an obligatio, i.e. an obligation on the transferee to free the slave; and a fideiussor can fall under an obligatio. On entry into a hereditas , the heir takes on (suscipit) the obligationes of an inheritance, a procurator may take on the obligationes of his principal, a son or slave should be relieved of an obligatio, and more generally a person may be freed from an obligatio . An obligatio could be transferred from fideiussor to freedman, or from a solvent to an insolvent debtor, or a noxal obligatio can be transferred where another person confesses that he or she is the owner of a slave whose wrong is the basis of a claim. When it is said that an obligatio would be made more burdensome, it cannot be anything but the burden to the person who is under the obligation that can be meant. Finally, although it is a new relationship that is created when an obligatio is novated, the focus is on the new liability that comes into existence rather than on the new right .

Mr Goudie said: “You didn’t want people to speak to the press and for people to get the wrong idea but you said David Ibbotson caused the crash, you had no information at the time so you knew he was not a competent flier.Professor Simon Deakin FBA is Professor of Law and a specialist in European labour and company law as well as a leading authority on tort law. Related to it is nexum . We need not enter into the controversy about the institution, abolished in the fourth century BC, but may observe that it too is linguistically related to tying , the verb nectere being effectively a synonym of ligare. It involved one person falling into the bondage of another by a formal transaction per aes et libram, and perhaps encapsulated an idea or image of being bound and led off into captivity . By the time of the classical jurists it seems to have been practically synonymous with obligatio. To understand the nature of obligatio we should begin with the verb form, obligare , and see its etymology and meaning. Its core meaning, already by the time of Plautus, is to bind , tie up or fasten, with its root ligare derived from the Greek λυγόω, with the same sense. Its secondary, abstract meaning of putting a person under a duty , which is found by the end of the Republic, maintains its link with this concrete meaning of binding or tying. In addition, it could refer to the binding of a thing, as where its owner pledged it to another. It is from here that we get, at the latest by the time of Cicero, the noun obligatio . The answers to these questions can only be properly established at Emiliano’s inquest, which is due to start in February next year.

Dr Markus Gehring teaches European Union and International Law at the Faculty of Law. He is a Director of Studies at Hughes Hall and a Fellow of the LCIL. His principal field of research is European environmental law, with a particular focus on international and European aspects of sustainable development. A member of the Frankfurt/Main and Ontario Bars, he practiced European and international trade law with Cleary Gottlieb in their Brussels office. His special interests are EU sustainable development and environmental law, climate change law, EU external relations law and international trade law.Commenting on Professor Scott’s appointment, Professor Mark Elliott, the Chair of the Faculty of Law, said: "I am delighted that Professor Scott will be joining the Faculty of Law as our new Regius Professor of Civil Law. We greatly look forward to welcoming Professor Scott to Cambridge and to benefitting from her wealth of expertise and experience as a teacher, researcher and academic leader."