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Introduction

The study of law in a logical and philosophical manner is referred to as jurisprudence. Jurisprudence comes from the Latin word Juris prudentia, which can be broken down into two parts: juris, which comes from the word jus, which means law, and prudential, which comes from the word prudential, which means prudence, forethought, or discretion. In its legal sense, the law of obligation is derived from Roman law. Obligation, according to Black’s law dictionary, is a moral or legal obligation to do or not do something. As a result, obligation arises from a legal relationship between two people in which one has the right over the other and the latter owes the former a duty. This type of legal relationship arises because of proprietary rights and is known as right in personam, or right against a person. In jurisprudence, a creditor is a person who benefits from the law of obligation, while a debtor is a person who is bound by the law of obligation. some philosophers, including Jeremy Bentham and Hans Kelsen, argue that the content of every legal system can and should be represented solely in terms of duty-imposing and duty-excepting laws. Bentham asks, “What is it that every article of law has in common with the rest? It commands and by doing so creates duties or, what is another word for the same thing, obligations”[1]Some jurists have defined the concept of obligation in different ways which are as follows. Let’s take a look at Salmond’s definition of the concept of obligation.

Sir John Salmond[2] believes that As a result, an obligation can be defined as a proprietary right in personam or a duty that corresponds to such a right. Obligations belong to the same category as duties that are co-relatives of rights in personam.

According to Holland, an obligation is a tie in which one person is obligated to do something for the benefit of another. In some cases, the two parties voluntarily agree to be bound together; in others, they are bound against their will.

According to Savigny, an obligation is the control over another person, but not over his person in all respects (which would destroy his personality), but over single acts that must be conceived of as subtracted from his free will and subjected to our will.

Kinds of Obligation

The term “obligation” refers to the act of performing or not performing a work or an act. Sole Obligation and Solidary Obligation are the two types of obligations. There are two types of solidary obligations.

Sole Obligation

This type of obligation has only one creditor and one debtor.

Solidary Obligation

In most cases, the obligation is between two people, but solidary obligation refers to obligations that involve more than two people. On one hand, there may be two or more parties, and on the other hand, there may be two or more parties. When two or more people owe their obligations to the same person, this is an example of solidary obligation. In this case, the person with the right can appoint any of the several people entrusted with the duty to carry out the task. In other words, if you have a creditor on one hand and several debtors on the other, all of whom owe the same debt to the same creditor, the creditor can ask any of the debtors to pay the debt. There are three types of solidarity obligations: In India, we see Joint and Several Solidary Obligations, as compare to Several Solidary Obligations and Joint and Several Solidary Obligations.

Sources of Obligation

There are four sources of obligation, which are as follows:

Contractual obligation (obligations ex contractu)

According to Section 2(h)[3] of the Indian Contracts Act, Contracts are legally binding agreements. These are the obligations that result from a contract between two people. It establishes in personam rights between the parties. The rights that are created in this way are usually proprietary rights. Sometimes, despite being in personam, a contract creates rights that are not proprietary.

 It establishes a right in personam between the parties, but there are some exceptions, such as a promise of marriage that falls under the law of status. In a contract, one party agrees to do or refrain from doing something in exchange for the other’s promise. As a result, we can assume that they have obligations to fulfill rights and duties on both sides of the contract. In a contract, both the promisor and the promise perform their duties and have rights against each other, resulting in mutuality of obligations.

Delictual obligation (Obligationes ex delicto)

These are the obligations that arise as a result of torts. As Salmond says “A Tort may be defined as a civil wrong for which the remedy is a damages action and which is not solely a breach of contract, breach of trust, or other merely equitable obligations,” 

Delictual obligations are those in which a sum of money is due as compensation for a wrongdoing. Damages in torts are unliquidated (i.e., the amount of compensation is not predetermined), whereas damages in contracts are inherently liquidated. Tortious liability arises from the breach of a duty owed to another person. “Tortious liability arises from the breach of a duty primarily fixed by law; this duty is towards persons generally, and its breach is repressible by an action for unliquidated damages,” according to Dr. Winfield.

It means that delictual obligations are the duty to make monetary restoration for the wrong, i.e. the defendant’s tort. Individuals are allowed to comply with such a duty established by law, and if they do not comply with their duty and cause harm to others, the person against whom tort is committed has the right to claim unliquidated damages from the one who did not comply with such duty.

Quasi-contract obligation (Obligationes quasi-ex-contractu)

These are the obligations created by quasi-contracts. “Quasi” is a Latin word that means “as if” or “in a similar way.” A quasi-contract is one in which the parties do not intend to enter into a real contract. It is similar to a contract, in which the law requires a person to perform an obligation on the basis of equity. The principle of equity states that “a person shall not be allowed to enrich himself unjustly at the expense of another.” Quasi-contract is based on this principle. To put it another way, no one should receive or accept any benefit unfairly. If that’s the case, he owes it to the rightful owner. Quasi-contractual obligations are such obligations.

For example, “X” accidentally leaves his bag at Y’s house. “Y” is obligated to return it to “X” under the terms of a quasi-contract.

These obligations are regarded as contractual by law, despite the fact that they are not. Such obligations were originally known as obligationes quasi ex contractu in Roman law, but they are now known as quasi-contractual in English law. Quasi contracts are those that are formed through the intervention of the courts rather than through a formal agreement and the consent of the parties.

Under Chapter V of the Indian Contract Act, 1872, quasi-contractual obligations are very precisely defined with examples. A parent’s responsibility to their child is a well-defined example of quasi-contracts. Another example is a relationship built on trust.

Innominate obligation

“Innominate obligation is a type of residuary obligation” according to Salmond,

Innominate obligations are not purely Non-contractual, delictual, and quasi-contractual obligations . This means they haven’t been given a name or a label.

 For example. With regard to the beneficiary, the trustee has a fiduciary obligation. Infringement of a trustee’s obligation on a beneficiary’s property is directly responsible to the trustee.

Elements of Obligation

The ACTIVE SUBJECT is the person who has the authority to demand that the obligation be performed or paid. He is also known as the creditor or the obligee.

The PASSIVE SUBJECT is the person who is obligated to perform or pay something. He is the one who can be held responsible for the debt. He’s also known as the obligor or debtor.

The contract’s object is the PRESTATION. It is the behaviour that the debtor or obligor is expected to follow. It could be a legal obligation to give, do, or not do something.

The legal or juridical tie is also known as the VINCULUM JURIS. Others refer to it as the efficient cause. It is what binds or connects the parties to the agreement. (De Leon) To put it another way, it’s the legal relationship that exists between the debtor and the creditor (or obligor and obligee).

Conclusion

Jurisprudence, as the science and philosophy of natural, positive, and normative laws, has a significant impact on society’s legal life. Jurisprudence cannot have much application in the eyes of the general public until and unless it is integrated into legislation and executive action. However, when hardships in the law as it is confront the aggrieved parties, jurisprudence reminds us of what law should be. If effectively applied, the moral and qualitative approaches of this Science will form a strong foundation for rule of law that is highly valued by the general public. It is self-evident that where there is an obligation, the failure to fulfill it results in liability.

As a result, obligation has the same legal value as liability. As its etymology suggests, obligation is a tie in which one person is obligated to perform some act for the benefit of another under a legal duty that may arise from a contract.[4]


References:

[1]Legal Obligation And Authority, (Aug 29, 2021 9:50PM), https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/legal-obligation/.

[2]Definition of Obligation in Law: Everything You Need to Know, ( Aug 28,2021, 6:45PM)https://www.upcounsel.com/definition-of-obligation-in-law.

[3] The Indian Contract Act, 1872.

[4] Holland T.E., Elements of Jurisprudence 245 (Oxford Clarendon Press,13th Ed.,2010).


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