Is ‘Causa’ in Maltese civil law redundant?

Abstract

The requirement of causa for the validity of a contract is often criticized as broad, vague, unpredictable and old-fashioned. Since it was introduced in the Code Napoléon, many countries adopted it but eventually abandoned it for other concepts. The latest civil law country to do so is France itself from where it originally started. Malta is one of the few countries remaining that has not considered re-modernising its contract law. Causa is analysed in the context of contract law and how its presence cannot be brushed aside. Next, the reform of the French government in contract law is analysed in detail to understand the lengths the reform has gone to in order to remove the term cause from the Civil Code while still retaining the spirit of causa. Finally, causa is analysed from the perspective of Maltese Civil Law and what may be the reaction of the Maltese legislator to the reforms undergone in France.