Civil Law and Contract Law Foundations
Civil Law and Contract Law Foundations
This domain tests the Roman-Dutch foundation of Sri Lankan private law and the contract rules a notary applies when drafting, explaining and attesting deeds.
Core rules
- The Civil Law Ordinance No. 5 of 1852 receives Roman-Dutch law as the common law; English law applies only where expressly introduced or settled by legislation.
- A valid contract requires consensus, capacity, a lawful and possible object and serious intention. Causa is not identical to English consideration; a gratuitous promise may be enforceable in the proper form.
- Defects of consent - mistake, fraud, misrepresentation, duress and undue influence - make a contract void or voidable according to their effect.
- Remedies include damages, specific performance, cancellation and restitution.
Worked example
A seller's brother signs a deed of sale “for” the seller. The notary must inspect a power of attorney or other mandate, confirm that it covers sale of immovable property and identify the principal. If the mandate is absent or defective, the deed does not bind the seller; the notary should refuse to attest until authority is cured. The reasoning is that agency rests on mandate, and the notary's certification that the parties appeared and executed is a substantive safeguard, not a formality.
Traps
Treating English consideration as essential; overlooking suspensive conditions; confusing void and voidable contracts; failing to check minority, unsoundness of mind or authority; and drafting an uncertain object.