The private writing from a civil law perspective

Abstract

A Private Writing is the commonest means today by which two or more persons enter into a reciprocal contractual relationship to give or do something. However, the law still persists in not defining and regulating such instrument. A private writing is a document that does not need any special formalities for its formation. It could be drafted by the parties themselves without the concurrence of a Notary or lawyer. What is important is that it constitutes tangible proof of the existence of the contractual relationship and of the rules and conditions governing such relationship. The exercise in this dissertation will be the following. Chapter 1 tries to define a private writing. Chapter 2 deals with rules governing the obligations contained in the writing. Chapter 3 identifies the material requisites for the validity of the document. Chapter 4 considers the effects of a private writing. Chapter 5 deals with those contracts that need a private writing for their validity. It also deals with other contracts which do not need the written form but it is advisable to be so concluded. Finally, in the Conclusion, amendments are proposed.