Law of Obligations and Civil Procedure
What the exam tests
Obligations in contract, delict and unjust enrichment, and civil procedure under the Civil Procedure Code No. 2 of 1889, with limitation under the Prescription Ordinance No. 22 of 1871.
Core rules
- Delict requires a wrongful act, fault, causation and damage; contract requires consensus and performance. Unjust enrichment remedies mistaken payments and other enrichment without cause.
- The Civil Procedure Code governs pleadings, summons, default, summary procedure, trial, judgment and execution. Jurisdiction depends on residence, cause of action and subject matter.
- Prescription bars remedies after statutory periods; the period depends on the cause of action. Prescription must be pleaded and proved.
- Res judicata prevents relitigation of the same cause of action between the same parties.
- Notaries often prepare affidavits, powers of attorney and certified copies; they must distinguish those from pleadings and court process.
Worked example
A lends B LKR 1 million in 2015, repayable on demand. A sues in 2024. B pleads prescription. The notary preparing A's affidavit should identify the limitation period for a loan and the date the cause of action arose. If the period has expired, A needs evidence of interruption or acknowledgment; otherwise the claim is vulnerable.
Traps
Confusing civil and criminal burdens; suing in the wrong court; missing prescription; and treating a notarized affidavit as proof of the facts.