11 THE ITALIAN LAW JOURNAL NO. 1 (2025)
Causa Concreta and Voluntariness: An Old Doctrine Rediscovered
by Hao Jiang and James Gordley When a contractual performance was useless to one of the parties at the time of contracting or becomes so, his purpose in contracting is defeated. It may be unfair to the other party to allow him to withdraw. But if it is not unfair, can he do so? Leonard Lessius (1554-1623) believed that he could because the contract no longer served the causa or purpose for which he contracted. We will examine the doctrine of causa concreta in Italian law and see why, properly interpreted, it could do the same. DOI 10.23815/2421-2156.ITALJ ISSN 2421-2156
