Good Faith Principle
Updated 2026-08-15
INTRODUCTION
English translation pending.
CORE DEFINITION
The good faith principle is a basic rule of civil law requiring parties to exercise rights and perform obligations according to standards of honesty, trustworthiness, and fairness. Because no statute can enumerate every future situation, the principle works as a residual standard: when a legal gap appears, or a contract is silent, it supplies the default rule and the interpretive direction. It also limits abuses, such as exercising a right purely to harm another, which is why it is often called the emperor clause of civil law for the way it governs all other clauses.
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
Reduce cognitive load
- Fill the gaps: when no clause covers the dispute, judge the parties' conduct against honest, reasonable expectations. - Police the rights: flag any exercise of right whose real purpose is damaging the other party. - Interpret the contract: read ambiguous terms in the direction that a truthful, fair reading supports.
Anchor fast decisions
Statutes are finite and the future is not, so written law necessarily leaves gaps; the good faith principle fills them by converting a moral floor into a judgeable legal standard. A party cannot profit from pure formalism once fairness becomes the interpretive default, because conduct is measured against what honest dealing required, not only what the text permitted. This residual function is what keeps the system equitable as circumstances the drafters never imagined arrive.
MINIMUM ACTION
In progress 0/1Practice this model in one real situation:
account_treeGenealogyexpand_more
menu_bookReferencesexpand_more
Source support: Explicit
- baike.comhttps://www.baike.com/wikiid/51756432385807183verified
PRIVATE NOTES · Only visible to you
SAVED Q&A
ENTRY Q&A · Private saving available
Ask with a clear boundary
thinkingmodels answers from published entry context only.
Your question is sent to thinkingmodels. The answer uses public entry context only.
RELATED MODELS