Francisco Oliva Blazquez

Sumario: 1. Introducción: el reconocimiento legal de la ignorancia excusable de los notarios. 2. El ámbito de la «ignorancia inexcusable»: ¿ignorancia de hecho y de derecho? 3. ¿Es compatible el deber del notario de conocer el Derecho con la exención de responsabilidad por ignorancia excusable? 4. El concepto de «ignorancia inexcusable»: diligencia notarial e ignorancia. 5. La ignorancia (excusable) sobre una cuestión jurídica controvertida en la práctica judicial. 6. La ignorancia del Derecho de los empleados de la notaría. 6.1. Responsabilidad civil del notario por los actos de sus auxiliares. 6.2. Causas de exoneración de la responsabilidad civil del notario. 7. Conclusión: el restringido ámbito de aplicación de la «ignorancia excusable» como causa de exención de responsabilidad civil notarial.

Texto paralelo en castellano e ingles. Contiene la Ley 2/2010, de 8 de abril, de derechos y garantias de la dignidad de la persona en el proceso de la muerte. Publicado en la pagina Web de la Consejeria de Salud y Bienestar Social: www.juntadeandalucia.es/salud (profesionales / Nuestro Compromiso por la Calidad)

El Derecho de contratos esta conociendo una serie de novedades -e incluso de incertidumbres- que lo hacen especialmente atractivo como objeto de reflexion. Las consecuencias de la crisis economica o la evidente internacionalizacion de las relaciones comerciales, son factores que inciden de manera clara sobre la propia concepcion del contrato, a escala global, haciendo que surjan problemas -pero tambien soluciones- hasta ahora no planteados. Mas alla de las cuestiones domesticas que interpelan al Derecho contractual en Espana -como su posible unificacion, superando la distincion Derecho civil / Derecho mercantil, o los conflictos cuyo origen es directamente la crisis economica-, es claro que existen nuevos escenarios y nuevas propuestas para el contrato, muchas de las cuales tienen su origen en la internacionalizacion de los mercados o en la parece que imparable y hegemonica influencia del Common Law en este ambito

The severe limitations imposed on economic activity as a result of the declaration of the state of alarm have seriously affected the effectiveness and performance of contracts. Although the emergence of this «unforeseeable risk» could be dealt with classic institutions of private law such as force majeure or the rebus sic stantibus clause, its shortcomings to face a generalized and systemic crisis situation led the legislator to pass different rules aimed at keeping the greatest number of contracts in force. The purpose of this paper is to analyse both the instruments of the general law of contracts aimed at allocating the risks and the most important measures in which the intervention of the emergency legislator has materialized.

All European laws provide for rules regarding the inefficacy of contracts contrary to law, 'bonne moeurs' (buenas costumbres, bonos mores, bonnes moeurs, gute Sitten) and public policy. They sanction both the contracts 'forbidden by law' and the contracts which are 'contrary to ‘bonnes moeurs’ or public policy'. Although terminology and legal technique change from one place to another, the principle still stays the same: law states the invalidity or inefficacy of the contracts contrary to the fundamental principles of ‘bonnes moeurs’ or public policy, as well as those which withstand mandatory rules. This paper includes not only comparative law, but also Spanish law, as well as modern contractual law (PECL and DCFR). Our thesis maintains the functional equivalence of the different concepts used in the various European laws to sanction illegality or illicity. Likewise, we prove the deep similarity of the solutions given by the different studied levels of regul...

The Fourth Book of the Draft Commercial Code regulates the obligations and commercial contracts in general. This legislative choice may be deemed to be contrary to the current international trend towards the unification of private contract law. Indeed, the EU institutions have actively promoted the making of a common European contract law involving both B2C and B2B contracts. Moreover, some European and international legal texts such as CISG, PICC, PECL, DCFR and CESL, have established a uniform law of private contracts which does not take into account the classic division, typical of “the dualistic systems”, between civil and commercial matters. The drafters of the Draft Commercial Code, however, opted to maintain and even enhance the civil‐commercial distinction in the field of obligations and contracts, moving the Spanish Law away from the international movement promoting the Unification of Contract Law.

The competent minor is a person endowed with the natural capacity to understand and wish the legal acts performed. Therefore, there is a general trend to recognize progressive legal capacity to these minors, especially in all that concerns the exercise of personal rights. The Spanish Law takes into account the category of the competent minor in a dispersed and heterogeneous way, and grants legal capacity to act in accordance with the age or the degree of maturity. This paper will explain the contemporary legal framework of the minors as well as the different assumptions in which the Spanish Civil Code and other special laws recognize his legal capacity, paying particular attention to the right to informed consent of the competent minor in Medical Law.

All European laws provide for rules regarding the inefficacy of contracts contrary to law, “bonne moeurs” (buenas costumbres, bonos mores, bonnes moeurs, gute Sitten) and public policy. They sanction both the contracts “forbidden by law” and the contracts which are “contrary to ‘bonnes moeurs’ or public policy”. Although terminology and legal technique change from one place to another, the principle still stays the same: law states the invalidity or inefficacy of the contracts contrary to the fundamental principles of ‘bonnes moeurs’ or public policy, as well as those which withstand mandatory rules. This paper includes not only comparative law, but also Spanish law, as well as modern contractual law (PECL and DCFR). Our thesis maintains the functional equivalence of the different concepts used in the various European laws to sanction illegality or illicity. Likewise, we prove the deep similarity of the solutions given by the different studied levels of regulation (comparative law, Spanish law and European private law) to establish the legal effects of illegal and immoral contracts. There are much more convergences than divergences and, in this sense, both PECL and DCFR are a good example of these convergences.

It sure seems perfectly logical and consistent with the principles that inform our legal system that judges and magistrates can be held accountable for damages caused in the exercise of their functions. However, the civil liability of judges and magistrates has raised since its inception many conflicts, questions and problems of interpretation, partly reflecting the uniqueness of the functions performed under the imperative of judicial independence. The purpose of this study is to analyze the legislative and jurisprudential setting of the civil liability of judges and magistrates resulting from inexcusable ignorance, as well as judicial error, as structural parts necessary to understand the legal liability system established by the legislature. Our study leads us to prove the factual ineffectiveness of both institutions and, consequently, to propose a solution to end a situation of some judicial civil immunity repeatedly denounced by the specialized legal doctrine.

The aim of this paper is to compare the regulation of the right of withdrawal in US and European Law. Both coincide in granting the right of withdrawal to a special category of individuals, namely consumers, due to the situation of information asymmetry in which they find themselves vis-à-vis traders. In addition, the consumer can invoke this right when concluding particularly complex contracts (e.g., consumer credit contracts) or in those cases in which he is subject to pressure or the so-called “surprise factor” at the time of entering into the contract (e.g., door-to-door sales). However, beyond these coincidences, the European and US rights of withdrawal differ greatly in several aspects. To begin with, the European Union has been very generous and flexible when regulating this concept, while in the USA the legislation is quite a bit more restricted and limited. Hence, retail “return policies”, designed to offer consumers the option of returning merchandise for predetermined reasons within a stipulated period, play a vital role in understanding consumer withdrawal rights in the USA. These differences and many other issues will be addressed here with a view to determining whether US law might be used as a model to improve the regulation of the right of withdrawal in the EU.

Resumen El menor maduro es un sujeto dotado de la suficiente capacidad natural para entender y querer los actos jurídicos que lleva a cabo. Por ello, existe una tendencia generalizada a reconocerle capacidad de obrar progresiva, especialmente en todo lo que concierne al ejercicio de los derechos de la personalidad. El Derecho español toma en consideración la categoría del menor maduro de forma dispersa y heterogénea, otorgándole capacidad para actuar en función de la edad o del grado de madurez concreto. El presente estudio explicará el régimen jurídico contemporáneo de la minoría de edad y expondrá los diferentes supuestos en los cuales el Código civil y otras leyes especiales reconocen capacidad de obrar al menor de edad, prestando especial atención al derecho al consentimiento informado del menor maduro en el ámbito sanitario. Abstract The competent minor is a person endowed with the natural capacity to understand and wish the legal acts performed. Therefore, there is a general trend to recognize progressive legal capacity to these minors, especially in all that concerns the exercise of personal rights. The Spanish Law takes into account the category of the competent minor in a dispersed and heterogeneous way, and grants legal capacity to act in accordance with the age or the degree of maturity. This paper will explain the contemporary legal framework of the minors as well as the different assumptions in which the Spanish Civil Code and other special laws recognize his legal capacity, paying particular attention to the right to informed consent of the competent minor in Medical Law.

RESUMEN: El Anteproyecto de Código Mercantil regula en el Libro Cuarto las obligaciones y contratos mercantiles en general. Esta opción legislativa puede considerarse como contraria a la actual tendencia internacional hacia la unificación del Derecho contractual privado. Efectivamente, las instituciones de la Unión Europea han promovido activamente la construcción de un Derecho común de la contratación privada europea, que integre tanto a las operaciones al consumo (B2C) como a los contratos entre profesionales (B2B). Por otro lado, diferentes instrumentos normativos europeos e internacionales, como la CISG, PICC, PECL, DCFR y CESL, han establecido un régimen jurídico uniforme del Derecho de la contratación privada en el que no se tiene en cuenta la clásica división entre materias civiles y mercantiles, típica de los sistemas dualistas. Los redactores del Anteproyecto, por el contrario, han optado por mantener e incluso potenciar la distinción civil‐mercantil en el ámbito de las obligaciones y contratos, alejando al Derecho español del movimiento internacional que promueve la unificación del Derecho de los contratos. ABSTRACT: The Fourth Book of the Draft Commercial Code regulates the obligations and commercial contracts in general. This legislative choice may be deemed to be contrary to the current international trend towards the unification of private contract law. Indeed, the EU institutions have actively promoted the making of a common European contract law involving both B2C and B2B contracts. Moreover, some European and international legal texts such as CISG, PICC, PECL, DCFR and CESL, have established a uniform law of private contracts which does not take into account the classic division, typical of " the dualistic systems " , between civil and commercial matters. The drafters of the Draft Commercial Code, however, opted to maintain and even enhance the civil‐commercial distinction in the field of obligations and contracts, moving the Spanish Law away from the international movement promoting the Unification of Contract Law.