A commutative contract is a civil legal agreement in which each of the contracting parties grants and receives an equivalent and reciprocal value. After a close examination of the contracts, it can be concluded that it is extremely important that those who study legal sciences can know in depth and complete everything related to commutative contracts.
A sales contract is of this type, because the seller delivers what he sells and receives the price value, which is equivalent. The buyer delivers the value of the price and receives the thing sold, being equivalent.
This contract is of great importance among contracts of this type, as it is a contract that transfers a domain. Furthermore, it constitutes the first current way in which wealth is acquired. Therefore, it should deserve a special study, both in its economic and legal function.
Each contracting party knows before the contract is concluded what its scope and benefits are. This is the case with sale and purchase, exchange and many other contracts in which the benefits are usually realized in the present and for a single time.
Features of the commutative contract
The main characteristic of commutative contracts is that, at the time of entering into the contract, both parties have the possibility to measure and evaluate the relationship of losses and advantages that this contract will generate.
Therefore, the contracting parties can establish the relationship of reciprocity, the extent of the exchange and the balance of the contract being entered into.
The doctrine considers that only onerous and bilateral contracts can be commutative contracts, provided that mutual obligations are equivalent.
fair to the parties
Although it is always found that there is a normal range of fluctuation that increases or decreases the losses or benefits of the contract and is understood as the risk that all contractors assume when entering into a legal transaction, this fluctuation does not change the commutative contract.
It is claimed that these contracts end up being much fairer for the parties. This justice is based on the direct exchange or exchange of something based on the equality of what is being exchanged, based on this type of agreement.
Prepared by contractors
The commutative contract, although it is an exchange of obligations, is established internally and only by the contractors, on a voluntary basis, excluding any intermediary and any third party. In general, for any external non-voluntary instance.
It is established as a private law method related to commutative justice, unlike distributive justice, in which it depends on an external or vertical instance, in addition to coercive contracts.
Difference with random contract
What fundamentally differentiates the commutative contract from the random contract is that only in the commutative contract can the parties evaluate or estimate the economic result that it will bring, both in the preliminary negotiations and at the moment of termination of the contract.
Only in the commutative contract are the contractors in a position to predict whether the agreement will be beneficial to them, why and how much. There is no doubt that this calculation will have to be verified later, after the fulfillment of the obligations and the exhaustion of the contract.
By comparing the forecast with the specific results achieved, the forecast will be ratified, denied or corrected.
This is how optimistic assumptions can be broken by comparing them to clearly achieved benefits resulting in a bad trading contract. That doesn’t take the onerous contract out of your commuter profile.
On the contrary, in the random contract it is not feasible to make any rational calculation in relation to the economic results that the operation will produce. The fate of the random contract is subject to luck, chance, complete uncertainty.
When the random contract is formed, it is impossible to predict, with any intellectual rigor, the practical consequences of what will become.
Relationship between benefits and sacrifices
The commutative contract is one in which the relationship between the sacrifices and the benefits that the contracting parties assume is determined from the beginning. This is the case of leasing, selling and buying.
This is not contested by the fact that market fluctuations and price freedom may allow a good price to be agreed upon, with a satisfactory balance between the service each party provides and the service it receives.
Nor because the next day the benefit received and/or agreed is worth much less or much more.
On the other hand, the random contract is one in which the aforementioned relationship is not determined, since it depends on some unpredictable or unknown circumstance by the parties: life annuity, insurance, game, game. This type of contract is essentially relevant within an onerous contract.
Example of a commutative contract
A commutative contract is one in which the economic losses or advantages agreed by the contracting parties are known.
An example of this would be the sales contract, in which the seller knows whether the established price constitutes a loss or an economic advantage for him and the buyer is fully aware of the economic effect that the price represents.
Purchase and sale agreement
Suppose Andrés sells a wooden chest to Ramón. Ramón buys it for the price of $350, signing the contract at a notary’s office. Both are of age.
The parties involved are the seller Andrés, who is the individual who will transfer the ownership, and the buyer Ramón, who is the one who obtains them. The object of the contract is a wooden chest, where Andrés promises to sell his product and Ramón promises to pay for it.
The contract is concluded to the full satisfaction of Ramón and Andrés, since both are subjects of law and can defend themselves without any impediment to its conclusion. Both accept the contract to enter into the contract.
This contract is bilateral, because it generates obligations and rights for both contractors, since Andrés must deliver the trunk and Ramón must pay the agreed price. Furthermore, it is costly to confer taxes and reciprocal benefits; to pay and to give.
Seller’s obligations
– Keep the main object of the sale until delivery.
– Convey title or ownership of the right.
– Ensure peaceful possession to the buyer.
– Hand over the trunk.
– Account for the hidden defects and defects that the trunk has.
Buyer’s obligations
– Receive the purchased trunk.
– Pay the agreed price.
– Receive in good condition.
