Lex perfecta
The term lex perfecta ( Latin for perfect law ) has been used in jurisprudence since common law to denote a legal norm , the violation of which as a legal consequence does not result in a penalty , but in the nullity of the legal act. A typical example of a lex perfecta is today's § 138 BGB , which itself orders the nullity of immoral or usurious - nonetheless not punishable - transactions and not just a statutory prohibition for which § 134 BGB then orders the nullity. In particular, the term was used in common law. It goes back to models of Roman jurisprudence , but is partly still used today.
To differentiate: If a legal norm does not directly order the nullity of the transaction, but a penalty, then it is a lex minus quam perfecta . It is not known whether the term lex plus quam perfecta, developed in common law for legal norms that provide for a penalty in addition to nullity, was already in use in Roman law.
See also
literature
- Johann Ludwig Goeschen, lectures on common civil law , ed. by Albrecht Erzleben, 2nd edition, Göttingen 1843, p. 60 f.
- Friedrich Vehring, History and Institutions of Roman Private Law , 3rd edition, Mainz 1870, p. 15.