Review article
https://doi.org/10.31141/zrpfs.2024.61.153.413
Legal-historical development of protection against unfair conduct of traders until the 20th century
Mirella Rodin
; Općinski sud u Crikvenici
Abstract
The Law against unfair competition was recognized as a separate legal area at the end of the
19th century. Due to the acceptance of laissez-faire economic theory, there was a need to prevent
the abuse of unlimited entrepreneurial freedom. Thus, the emergence of this law is linked to legal
systems of states based on liberal or neoliberal economic structures. The author of this paper argues
that the freedom of traders has always been constrained by principles of business morality, regardless
of the acceptance of market and competition concepts. Legal-historical mechanisms aimed at
restricting the freedom of traders, with the goal of identifying precedents to contemporary legal
rules are analyzed. The legal-historical development of protection against the business immorality
of traders is examined over three legal periods: Roman law, medieval law, and modern law. In
Roman law, the author searches for evidence of private law protection against immoral conduct
by traders. In particular, the principle of bona fides is analyzed, which still plays a prominent role
in law against unfair competition, along with the institutes of doli and metus. Furthermore, the
concepts of business immorality of traders and the meanings of the bona fides principle in the
medieval period are examined. The significance of guilds in the development of these rules and
other forms of protection against unfair competition is also studied. Subsequently, the emergence of
laws against unfair competition in France in the 19th century and the introduction of rules on unfair
competition, still in force today, in the Paris Convention are discussed. Finally, it is concluded that
there is continuity in protection against the business immorality of traders regardless of the socioeconomic
systems in society, and that the studied legal-historical institutions of obligation law can
be considered as the foundations of contemporary law against unfair competition.
Keywords
bona fides; dolus; metus; business morality; unfair competition
Hrčak ID:
321203
URI
Publication date:
30.9.2024.
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