The origin of the principle of good faith

The principle of good faith originated from Roman law.

According to the good faith contract of Roman law, the debtor should not only complete the payment stipulated in the contract according to the terms of the contract, but also according to the concept of good faith. According to the provisions of the Judgment Law, the parties admit the debt because they mistakenly believe that the debt has a reason. In fact, when the reason does not exist, they can put forward a "fraud defense" to refuse to perform. According to the provisions of the civil law, if a party performs a debt by mistake, it may bring a suit of unjust enrichment and request the other party to return the property that has been performed. If it fails to perform, it may bring a "lawsuit without cause" and request to declare that it is not bound by debt.

Article 1 134 of French Civil Code 1804 stipulates that the contract shall be performed in good faith.

Article 1863, paragraph 158 of the Saxony Civil Code stipulates: "The performance of a contract shall be done in good faith and according to what honest people should do, except in accordance with special contracts and agreements."

Due to the influence of individualism and liberalism in the19th century, the principle of good faith has not been paid enough attention to by the bourgeois civil code, and only applies to the performance of contracts. After 19, the law developed from individual standard to group standard, and the application scope of the principle of good faith in civil law gradually expanded.

157 of the German Civil Code, which came into effect in 1900, stipulates: "A contract shall be interpreted in good faith, taking into account the trading habits". Article 242nd stipulates: "In order to pay, the debtor has the obligation to consider trading habits and abide by good faith."

Article 2 of the Swiss Civil Code (1907) stipulates: "Anyone who exercises his rights and fulfills his obligations should act in good faith." This will expand the application scope of the principle of good faith from the relationship between creditor's rights and debts to the general relationship between rights and obligations in civil law.