chapter 2

General Rules of Civil Law

The main object of civil law is to protect and promote the interests of private
persons. Persons who possess a legal interest in a certain condition, privilege,
property, or liberty have the power to compel others to respect that interest.
Generally speaking, lawful interest means a private interest prominently
expressed by the legal order in the form of a right. The protection of rights
against interference, deprivation, and infringement constitute the purpose of
civil law.
It is important to note that the law does not recognize private interests only
for the benefit of private individuals, but also for the benefit of society as a
whole. Its vision is both individual and social. It follows, then, that the public
authority protects only those private interests which conform to the common
good, and lead to the advancement of the community. The purpose of civil law,
therefore, is to provide protection for individual interests and, at the same
time, promote the general welfare of the community. This can be defined as
the social object of civil law.1
There are four fundamental elements underpinning civil laws: juristic facts,
legal persons, legal objects, and legal protection.

1 Juristic Facts

The first element of civil law is the existence of a juristic fact. The relationship
which gives rise to a legal interest to redress at law constitutes a private legal
relationship and is created by a particular fact. As a consequence of this fact,
legal relationships obtain a specific protection, and the corresponding interest
is treated as a legal advantage. The means through which this is achieved is
called a juristic fact. Very generally, juristic fact can be defined as any set of
facts to which a legal rule applies and provides for certain consequences.
Juristic facts, therefore, are specially designated facts having legal conse-
quences, such as natural events or acts, and must be distinguished from those
mere occurrences that have no legal relevance. They are necessary not only for

1 See in particular P. Sumawongse, Got mai paeng: luk tua pai [General Principles of Civil Law],
Bangkok, Thammasat University, 1981, p. 23.

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���6 | doi 10.1163/9789004308923_003

22 chapter 2

the creation of a legal advantage or a legal relationship, but also for their modi-
fication or extinction.
Juristic facts include natural facts and legal acts. Natural facts are events
which happen without human intervention, such as forces of nature, natural
phenomenon, lapse of time, animal behavior, and the like. In other words, they
occur independently of subjective intentions. Such events may be construc-
tive, like the birth of persons, or the growth of fruits. They may be modificatory,
as in the case of chemical or physical processes such as hydrolysis, bioaccumu-
lation, photolysis, and biodegradation. Finally, they may be destructive, as in
the destruction of property, or the death of persons or animals.
In contrast, legal acts are voluntary and deliberate acts which give rise to
legal relationships, e.g., the execution of a will, creation of contracts, and
delicts. They are the result of human conduct and are designed to have legal
consequences.

1.1 Licit and Illicit Acts

In civil law legal acts are further divided into two large categories: licit acts (e.g.,
a will, a disclaimer, a sale agreement, a loan agreement, a promise, and the like)
and illicit acts (e.g., the publication of libelous statements or the spreading of
slanderous rumors). Licit acts are those which conform to the requirements of
the law. They are defined under Section 149 of the Civil and Commercial Code
as voluntary lawful acts, the immediate purpose of which is to establish
between persons relations to create, modify, transfer, preserve, or extinguish
rights. The juristic act is thus, an action intended to have and capable of having
legal effects. It represents the functional form in which the subjective intention
of the actor develops its activity in establishing rights within the boundaries of
the legal system.2
In the case that the act is against the legal order, it is called an illicit act.
Illicit acts are regulated under Sections 420 and following of the Civil and
Commercial Code. More precisely, Section 420 states that “A person who, will-
fully or negligently, unlawfully injures the life, body, health, liberty, property, or
any right of another person, is said to commit a wrongful act and is bound to
make compensation therefore.” This means that an illicit act may create obliga-
tions to pay penalties, compensation, and damages to the victim of such act.
Delictual obligations will be discussed in further chapters.

2 See J. Sodpipan, Kam atibai lak got mai nitigam sanya [Basic Principles of Law: Juristic Acts
and Contracts], Bangkok, Winuchon, 2002, pp. 12 and 24.