A Historical Introduction to the Law of Obligations

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Dr Markus Gehring teaches European Union and International Law at the Faculty of Law. He is a Director of Studies at Hughes Hall and a Fellow of the LCIL. His principal field of research is European environmental law, with a particular focus on international and European aspects of sustainable development. A member of the Frankfurt/Main and Ontario Bars, he practiced European and international trade law with Cleary Gottlieb in their Brussels office. His special interests are EU sustainable development and environmental law, climate change law, EU external relations law and international trade law. David John Ibbetson FBA is a British legal academic. He was Regius Professor of Civil Law at the University of Cambridge from 2000 to 2022, and President of Clare Hall from 2013 to 2020. [1] From 2009 until 2012, he served as the chairman of the Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge. [2] He was General Editor of the Cambridge Law Journal between 2003 and 2009. Let us proceed to obligations. Their basic division is into two species: for every obligation arises either from contract or from delict. This then provides the shape for Gaius’ treatment of personal obligations: first contracts, then delicts or wrongs . The same duality is found in Gaius’ treatment of personal actions: these, he says, seek to enforce an obligation imposed by contract or delict; though we should observe that already in the Institutes he has referred to the personal action to enforce a legacy per damnationem. In truth, contract and wrongdoing are merely the two principal sources of obligatio, and in the Digest Gaius is seen to be giving a slightly expanded categorisation, adding an additional residuary group :

David Ibbotson's SEP (PPL) licence expires. This means he is unable to legally fly the N264DB aircraft.

To understand the nature of obligatio we should begin with the verb form, obligare , and see its etymology and meaning. Its core meaning, already by the time of Plautus, is to bind , tie up or fasten, with its root ligare derived from the Greek λυγόω, with the same sense. Its secondary, abstract meaning of putting a person under a duty , which is found by the end of the Republic, maintains its link with this concrete meaning of binding or tying. In addition, it could refer to the binding of a thing, as where its owner pledged it to another. It is from here that we get, at the latest by the time of Cicero, the noun obligatio . Omnium autem obligationum summa divisio in duo genera deducitur: namque aut civiles sunt aut praetoriae. Civiles sunt, quae aut legibus constitutae aut certe iure civili comprobatae sunt. Praetoriae sunt, quas praetor ex sua iurisdictione constituit, quae etiam honorariae vocantur. Commenting on Professor Scott’s appointment, Professor Mark Elliott, the Chair of the Faculty of Law, said: "I am delighted that Professor Scott will be joining the Faculty of Law as our new Regius Professor of Civil Law. We greatly look forward to welcoming Professor Scott to Cambridge and to benefitting from her wealth of expertise and experience as a teacher, researcher and academic leader." Conventionis nomen generale est, ut eleganter dicat Pedius nullum esse contractum, nullam obligationem, quae non habeat in se conventionem, sive re sive verbis fiat: nam et stipulatio, quae verbis fit, nisi habeat consensum, nulla est.

The Centre for English Legal History is delighted to host a valedictory lecture by David Ibbetson FBA, Regius Professor of Civil Law. Obligationes aut ex contractu nascuntur aut ex maleficio aut proprio quodam iure ex variis causarum figuris. I would like to make clear at no time did I have any reason to believe the aircraft was flight unworthy, I cannot and still don’t believe it necessarily was. Noteworthily, although the sources of obligations are given in the Institutes, Gaius gives nothing like a definition of obligatio . We might say that his primary reason for introducing the category of obligations into the institutional framework at this point has nothing to do with obligations themselves, but serves rather to provide a peg on which to hang the discussion of contracts and delicts .

Abstract

While it will come as no surprise to learn that David will continue his research for years to come, this lecture marks his retirement from the Regius Professorship of Civil Law. The lecture will be introduced by Mr Justice Foxton, and will be followed by a drinks reception. All are welcome, though booking is essential: