STRUCTURE AND SPECIAL TYPES OF LOCATIO CONDUCTIO OPERIS FACIENDI

Abstract

Most of European private law institutes find their origins in Roman law. This is the consequence of both scarcity of older legal system’s sources and the fact that for the first time in history Romans created one relatively rounded, complete legal system, much like what we have today. However, Roman contract locatio conductio operis faciendi, which is referred as the precursor of letting and hiring of work, presents a different example. It incorporates (in part) modern day contract of letting and hiring of work, as well as several other contractual relations, which makes it very complex. In this paper, the author analyzes locatio conductio opens faciendi in classical Roman law (with reference to the Justinian law), special types of this contract, and the possibility that within its subcontract locatio conductio horrei it included contract of interest bearing deposit.

This specific institute of Roman legal history provides good insight into the Roman understanding of certain types of work and the evolution of these concepts in Roman history. It also explains how the foundation of what we today call contract of letting and hiring of work originated and evolved.