Laesio enormis, the Austrian Civil Code and a family bussiness

Abstract

While searching through family papers, I discovered some sale contracts concluded a hundred years ago by one of my ancestors. Their clauses were constantly referring to the §934 ABGB’s provisions on laesio enormis. It is the object of my paper to give an account on the application of this text in Romanian historical province of Transylvania, by comparing it to its Roman origins: how was the Roman law solution received in the ABGB? What was the extent of its application into practice? Did it succeed to stay true to its original sense? The ultimate purpose of the whole analysis will be to give a brief legal history account on the lesion, to help nowadays debates on its status in the recently revised Romanian Civil Code.