ano 13 - n.

2 | maio/agosto - 2016
Belo Horizonte | p. 1- 265 ISSN 1806-910X
R. de Dir. Empresarial RDEmp

Revista de
DIREITO EMPRESARIAL

RDEmp
 Revista de Direito Empresarial RDEmp
Editores Gerais
Lara Bonemer Azevedo da Rocha
Antnio Bazlio Floriani Neto

Coordenadores
Mrcia Carla Pereira Ribeiro e Oksandro Osdival Gonalves

Conselho Editorial
Dr. Aldacy Rachid Coutinho (UFPR, Curitiba, PR, BR)
Dr. Alexandre Ferreira Assumpo Alves (UERJ, UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, BR)
Dr. Alexandre Bueno Cateb (FMC, Belo Horizonte, MG, BR)
Dra. Ana de Oliveira Frazo (UnB, Braslia, DF, BR)
Dr. Antnio Maristrello Porto (FGV-RJ, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, BR)
Dr. Dennis Almanza Torres (Universidade de La Salle-Peru, PE)
Dr. Erasmo Vallado (USP, So Paulo, SP, BR)
Dr. Fbio Ulhoa Coelho (PUC-SP, So Paulo, SP, BR)
Dr. Fernando Arajo (Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, PT)
Dr. Ivo Gico Jnior (UCB, Braslia, DF, BR)
Dr. Ivo Waisberg (PUC-SP, So Paulo, SP, BR)
Dr. Jeffrey Talpis (Universit de Montral, Montral, CA)
Dr. Jos Augusto Fontoura Costa (USP, So Paulo, SP, BR)
Dr. Luciano Benetti Timm (PUCRS, Porto Alegre, RS, BR)
Dr. Manoel de Queiroz Pereira Calas (PUC-SP, So Paulo, SP, BR)
Dra. Mrcia Carla Pereira Ribeiro (UFPR e PUCPR, Curitiba, PR, BR)
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Dr. Marco Aurlio de Castro Jnior (UFBA, Salvador, BA, BR)
Dr. Marcos Wachowicz (UFPR, Curitiba, PR, BR)
Dra. Melina de Souza Rocha Lukic (FGV, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, BR)
Dr. Newton Silveira (USP, So Paulo, SP, BR)
Dr. Oksandro Osdival Gonalves (PUCPR, Curitiba, PR, BR)
Dr. Osmar Brina Corra-Lima (UFMG, Belo Horizonte, MG, BR)
Dra. Paula Andrea Forgioni (USP, So Paulo, SP, BR)
Dra. Paula Vaz Freire (Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, PT)
Dr. Ricardo Lupion Garcia (PUCRS, Porto Alegre, RS, BR)
Dr. Ronald Otto Hillbrecht (UFRGS, Porto Alegre, RS, BR)
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Pareceristas Ad Hoc
Dr. Fbio Zambitte Ibrahim (UERJ, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, BR) Ms. Marcus Vincius de Alcntara Kalil (Universidade Catlica de Salvador,
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Dra. Jussara Maria Leal de Meirelres (PUCPR, Curitiba, PR, BR) Dr. Solon Linhares (PUCPR, Curitiba, PR, BR)
Ms. Marcelle Franco Espndola Barros (Universidade Positivo, Curitiba, PR, BR) Dra. Valria Silva Galdino Cardin (Unicesumar, Maring, PR, BR)

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R454 Revista de Direito Empresarial : RDEmp. ano 13, Territrio Nacional
n. 1, (jan./abr. 2016) . Belo Horizonte:
Frum, 2012- Os conceitos e opinies expressas nos trabalhos assinados so de
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Quadrimestral
ISSN 1806-910X
Coordenao editorial: Leonardo Eustquio Siqueira Arajo
Publicada do v. 1, 2004 ao v. 15, 2011 pela Capa: Igor Jamur
Editora Juru, Curitiba. Projeto grfico: Walter Santos
Publicada a partir do ano 8, n. 2, jul./dez. 2011
pela Editora Frum, Belo Horizonte.

1. Direito empresarial Peridicos. 2. Sociedades.

3. Atividade econmica. I. Ribeiro, Mrcia Carla Pereira
(Coord.). II. Gonalves, Oksandro (Coord.). III. Frum.

CDD: 346.07
CDU: 347.7
 Sumrio

Apresentao .....................................................................................................7

ANLISE ECONMICA DO DIREITO

Direito e economia nas corridas por patentes

Ricardo Dutra Nunes, Antnio Jos Maristrello Porto .............................................................. 11
1 Introduo ............................................................................................................... 11
2 Breve anlise econmica do direito de propriedade..................................................... 15
3 O sistema de patentes e a alegada ineficincia econmica das corridas por patente
ou pesquisas competitivas .........................................................................................16
4 Comentrios aos apontamentos de parte da doutrina sobre a alegada ineficincia
das corridas por patente........................................................................................... 22
5 Concluso ............................................................................................................... 26
Referncias ............................................................................................................. 29

Anlise econmica do direito na defesa da concorrncia

Jos Maria Ramos, Francisco Carlos Duarte........................................................................... 31
1 Introduo ............................................................................................................... 31
2 Anlise Econmica do Direito .................................................................................... 32
3 Interveno do estado no domnio econmico e na defesa da concorrncia .................. 36
3.1 A nova economia institucional na defesa da concorrncia............................................ 38
4 A defesa da concorrncia no Brasil ............................................................................ 40
4.1 Anlise econmica da defesa da concorrncia............................................................ 43
5 Consideraes finais ................................................................................................ 45
Referncias ............................................................................................................. 46

O juzo de admissibilidade dos recursos especial e extraordinrio:

uma anlise econmica
Giovani Ribeiro Rodrigues Alves, Tiago Costa Alfrdo ............................................................. 49
1 Consideraes iniciais .............................................................................................. 49
2 Anlise Econmica do Direito: premissas ................................................................... 50
3 O juzo de admissibilidade e as recentes alteraes legislativas quanto aos recursos ......
especiais e extraordinrios ....................................................................................... 53
4 Fundamentos favorveis e contrrios luz da anlise econmica do direito .................. 55
5 Consideraes finais ................................................................................................ 61
Referncias ............................................................................................................. 61

DOUTRINA E ATUALIDADES

A nova lei anticorrupo empresarial no Brasil: novo marco regulatrio s

responsabilidades das pessoas jurdicas por atos atentatrios aos bens pblicos
Rogrio Gesta Leal ............................................................................................................... 63
1 Notas introdutrias .................................................................................................. 63
2 O problema da responsabilidade corporativa por atos de corrupo:
perfis internacionais ................................................................................................. 64
3 A anticorrupo empresarial no Brasil: de que responsabilidade jurdica fala a
Lei n 12.846/2013? .............................................................................................. 69
4 Consideraes finais ................................................................................................ 81
Referncias ............................................................................................................. 86

Constituio de cooperativas para manuteno de empregos na recuperao

judicial ou na falncia
Alexandre Ferreira de Assumpo Alves, Priscilla Menezes da Silva........................................ 91
1 Introduo ............................................................................................................... 91
2 As cooperativas como alternativa ao desemprego: o perfil dos trabalhadores ............... 93
3 O apoio dos sindicatos aos novos cooperados antes e depois da constituio
da cooperativa ......................................................................................................... 95
4 Aquisio de ativos do empregador em crise antes e aps a concesso de
recuperao judicial ou a decretao de falncia: diferenas e dificuldades ................ 100
5 Concluso ............................................................................................................. 108
Referncias ........................................................................................................... 110

Instituto da falncia transnacional como instrumento garantidor de segurana

jurdica de credores
Gina Marclio Pompeu, tila de Alencar Araripe Magalhes .................................................. 113
1 Introduo ............................................................................................................. 114
2 A influncia do direito e da economia sobre a falncia transnacional .......................... 115
3 A globalizao e as empresas transnacionais........................................................... 118
4 Modelos de processos de insolvncia transfronteiria ............................................... 123
5 Concluso ............................................................................................................. 126
Referncias ........................................................................................................... 127

Previdncia Complementar Privada e Contrato Individual de Trabalho na ordem

social: natureza jurdica e autonomia
Gustavo Filipe Barbosa Garcia ............................................................................................. 131
1 Introduo ............................................................................................................. 131
2 Regimes previdencirios ......................................................................................... 132
3 Previdncia complementar privada: modalidades ...................................................... 132
4 Previdncia complementar privada: natureza jurdica ................................................. 134
5 Previdncia complementar e contrato individual de trabalho ...................................... 137
6 Concluso ............................................................................................................. 141
Referncias ........................................................................................................... 142

The historical development of the purchase agreement in a comparative analysis

Luciano Zordan Piva ........................................................................................................... 143
1 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 143
2 The formation of contracts ...................................................................................... 145
2.1 Obligations sources............................................................................................... 145
2.2 The different development of the juristic act in Germany ............................................ 146
2.3 The contract of the law of obligations....................................................................... 147
3 The purchase agreement and the duality of plans ..................................................... 147
3.1 The origins of the duality of plans ............................................................................ 148
3.2 The effects of the purchase and sale agreement in the Portuguese system of
non-separation of plans .......................................................................................... 148
3.3 The effects of the purchase and sale agreement in the German system of
totally separation of plans ...................................................................................... 150
3.4 Brazilian system of relative separation of plans ........................................................ 151
4 The role of the purchase and sale commitment ........................................................ 152
4.1 The purchase and sale commitment in the Portuguese system of non-separation
of plans ................................................................................................................ 152
4.2 The purchase and sale commitment in the German system of separation of plans ...... 152
4.3 The purchase and sale commitment in the Brazilian relative separation of plans ......... 153
5 Analysis ................................................................................................................ 154
5.1 Legacies (pros and contras) of each system ............................................................. 155
5.1.1 Main features of the Portuguese system .................................................................. 155
5.1.2 Main features of the German system ....................................................................... 156
5.2 The nature of the purchase and sale agreement ....................................................... 157
References ............................................................................................................ 158

Equity crowdfunding no Brasil? Primeiras consideraes sobre realidade

econmica e disciplina jurdica
Eduardo da Silva Mattos, Bruno Polonio Renzetti ................................................................. 161
1 Introduo: ambiente econmico para financiamento de pequenas empresas ............. 162
2 O que equity crowdfunding? ................................................................................. 163
3 Os problemas regulatrios do equity crowdfunding e as solues adotadas fora
do pas ................................................................................................................. 165
4 A prtica do financiamento coletivo empresarial no Brasil.......................................... 169
5 Consideraes finais .............................................................................................. 171
Referncias ........................................................................................................... 172

Reteno de lucros para a realizao de investimentos nas sociedades annimas

Christian Sahb Batista Lopes, Mariana Richter Ribeiro ......................................................... 175
1 Introduo ............................................................................................................. 175
2 Constituio de reserva estatutria ......................................................................... 178
3 Reteno de lucro lquido mediante oramento de capital ......................................... 180
4 Dividendo obrigatrio .............................................................................................. 185
5 Limite de saldos das reservas de lucros .................................................................. 186
6 Concluso ............................................................................................................. 192
Referncias ........................................................................................................... 193

Conflitos de agncia, governana corporativa e fiscalizao das atividades sociais

Eduardo Goulart Pimenta, Luciana de Castro Bastos ............................................................ 195
1 Introduo ............................................................................................................. 195
2 Processo decisrio nas sociedades annimas .......................................................... 196
3 Variaes no processo decisrio corporativo ............................................................ 198
4 Monitoramento de decises corporativas ................................................................. 200
5 Conflitos de agncia e sua importncia para o estudo das sociedades annimas ....... 201
6 Os instrumentos legais de fiscalizao das companhias e seu papel na reduo
dos conflitos de agncia ......................................................................................... 205
7 O conselho fiscal como instrumento de mitigao dos conflitos internos
de agncia ............................................................................................................ 206
8 A fiscalizao externa e os custos de agncia no contexto das sociedades
annimas ............................................................................................................... 207
9 Os padres normativos de transparncia dos negcios da companhia e seus
reflexos sobre os conflitos de agncia ..................................................................... 209
10 Concluso ............................................................................................................. 210
Referncias ........................................................................................................... 211
Responsabilidade civil dos bancos na concesso de crdito
Ivo Waisberg, Pedro Guilhardi .............................................................................................. 213
1 Introduo ............................................................................................................. 213
2 A importncia da atividade de concesso de crdito ................................................. 214
3 A responsabilidade do banco perante o tomador de emprstimo................................ 216
3.1 A negativa de concesso de crdito como fundamento para a responsabilizao civil ... 216
3.2 A interrupo da concesso de crdito como fundamento para a responsabilizao
civil ....................................................................................................................... 218
4 Danos causados a terceiros ................................................................................... 223
4.1 O crdito e a aparente solvncia do tomador de recursos perante terceiros ................ 223
4.2 A constituio abusiva de garantia fiduciria ............................................................ 227
5 Consideraes finais .............................................................................................. 228
Referncias ........................................................................................................... 230

Contrato e biotecnologia no Superior Tribunal de Justia: a quebra do contrato de

conservao de clulas-tronco e a perda de uma chance
Rosalice Fidalgo Pinheiro .................................................................................................... 233
1 Introduo ............................................................................................................. 233
2 Contrato e biotecnologia no Superior Tribunal de Justia: o recurso especial
n 1.291.247-RJ .................................................................................................... 235
3 O contrato de conservao de clulas-tronco e a essencialidade do bem contratado ... 237
4 A perda de uma chance e os contornos do inadimplemento contratual ....................... 240
5 A reparao integral e o dano moral na responsabilidade contratual........................... 245
6 Consideraes finais .............................................................................................. 251
Referncias ........................................................................................................... 252

Normas Tcnicas............................................................................................255

Normas Tcnicas............................................................................................259

Technical Standards .......................................................................................247

 The historical development of the
purchase agreement in a comparative
analysis

Luciano Zordan Piva

Mestrando em Direito Privado pela Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre,
Brasil. Intercmbio acadmico na Lund University, Sucia. E-mail: <luciano.zpiva@gmail.com>

Abstract: This essay aims to examine the historical development of the purchase and sale agreement in
a comparative analysis, in order to relate its origin with the European continental legal culture, that has
great influence on Brazilian law. Accordingly, two questions can be proposed. The first one is related with
what are the main differences concerning to the effects that the purchase and sale agreement creates in
the Portuguese and in the German systems of the Law of Obligations and the Law of Things? Moreover,
another question related to the previous one is how a historical and comparative analysis between these
two systems can provide elements to report some introductory thoughts about the nature of the purchase
and sale agreement? This is because, once the origin of this institute is connected with one of the most
basic human beings instincts, the exchange of resources, the nature of the purchase contract must be
search through a historical analysis and under a comparative perspective. In short, it is possible to affirm
that this contract reflects the historical development of the European continental legal culture, following the
legal, social and economical changes through the centuries, which mean a lot of influence on nowadays
Brazilian legal and contractual institutes.
Keywords: Law. Purchase and sale agreement. History. Comparative law.

Summary: 1 Introduction - 2 The formation of contracts - 3 The purchase agreement and the duality of plans
- 4 The role of the purchase and sale commitment - 5 Analysis References

1 Introduction
There are some reasons why Europe developed in a faster way after the
breakdown of the Feudal system, and one of them is strongly related to the significant
increase of transactions among people influenced by a surplus in the agriculture
derived from the decrease of the invasions in the eleventh century.1 In the core of this
incipient commerce, one typical instrument of negotiation, although without its modern
aspects, emerged with a singular importance: the purchase and sale agreement.
In fact, although modern contract law might be consider a creation of the
nineteenth century,2 and most of the jurists consider the contract of sale as a key

1
ROBINSON, O. F.; FERGUS, T. D.; GORDON, W.M. European Legal History. Third Edition. Oxford, 2000. p. 23.
2
HORWITZ, J. M. The Historical Foundations of Modern Contract Law. Harvard Law Review, vol. 87, n. 5, March
1974. p. 917.

R. de Dir. Empresarial RDEmp | Belo Horizonte, ano 13, n. 2, p. 143-160, maio/ago. 2016 143
 LUCIANO ZORDAN PIVA

achievement of the Roman jurists,3 the roots of this type of contract can be traced
back since the Ancient History. Obviously few characteristics remained from the
Mesopotamia sales and purchase agreement of c.2300 B.C., when a contract was
made for the sale of a slave,4 but this is a relevant example to illustrate how this
kind of agreement always followed the human being development and, concerning to
European Legal History, this contract is intrinsically connected with the legal, social
and economical perspectives.
Using this important institute as a central reference, the essay aims to analyze
the nature of the purchase and sale agreement and its importance to the development
of European continental legal culture. With the purpose of narrowing this wide subject,
we will focus our research in two specific systems that greatly influenced the legal
practice in Europe: the Portuguese system what include, besides Portugal, France
and Italy; and the German system, which comprehend some similarity with the Brazilian
system, however a few distinctions that traced back the Roman differentiate Brazilian
from German system.
Summarizing, the question proposed is what are the main differences concerning
to the effects that the purchase and sale agreement creates in the Portuguese and
in the German systems of the Law of Obligations and the Law of Things? Moreover,
another question related to the previous one is how a historical and comparative
analysis between these two systems can help us to report some introductory thoughts
about the nature of the purchase and sale agreement?
The idea to use the division between these two major families in order to deepen
the examination of the nature of the purchase and sale agreement is not developed
by chance: it represents two different types of effects in the Law of Obligations and in
the Law of Things, creating respectively in the German and the Portuguese systems
important notions of (i) separation of plans and (ii) non-separation of plans in these
categories of Law. Accordingly, further examinations under these two different plans
shaped the legal studies in modern contract law and helped to developed fundamental
concepts such as obligation as a process5 and, consequently, good faith.6
In this sense, our intention is to highlight the evolution of the purchase and sale
agreement under a historical perspective of these two legal systems,7 comparing what

3
GORDLEY, J. The Origins of Sale: Some lessons from the Romans. Tulane Law Review, vol. 84, n. 06, 2010.
p. 1438.
4
BARTON, G.A.: Contracts. In: Assyrian and Babylonian Literature: Selected Transactions, With a Critical
Introduction by Robert Francis Harper. New York, 1904. p. 260.
5
LARENZ, K. Derecho de Obligaciones. Madrid: Revista de Derecho Privado, 1958. p. 22.
6
COUTO E SILVA, C. A Obrigao como Processo. Full Professor Thesis at Federal University of Rio Grande do
Sul (UFRGS), 1964. Reprinted in Rio de Janeiro, 2007. p. 32-44.
7
It has long been recognized that there is a relationship between the legal method of a period and the type
of thinking generally prevalent at the time. These connections show us that, consistent with that peculiarly
European characteristic of seeking to control public affairs by methodical consciousness, legal history is es-
sentially the history of the way in which ideas have been realized in state and society. (WIEACKER, F. A History
of Private Law in Europe: with particular reference to Germany. Oxford: Translated by Tony Weir, 1995. p. 06).

144 R. de Dir. Empresarial RDEmp | Belo Horizonte, ano 13, n. 2, p. 143-160, maio/ago. 2016
 THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE PURCHASE AGREEMENT IN A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

are the main legacies of each model. Furthermore, our idea is to emphasize how these
both systems influenced Brazilian model of effects in the Law of Obligations and the
Law of Things, showing the sui generis path that Brazil chose.8
In order to achieve these objectives, besides using legal books concerning to the
development of Private law (especially related to the Law of Obligations and Contract
Law) in Europe, we will also investigate the role of the purchase and sale commitment
regarding its creation as a solution to solve the problem of property transmission
specifically using the example of the Brazilian 2002 Civil Code.9 Once we propose a
comparative and historical research, we will always keep in mind that to understand
law, even as it is within that country, one must look beyond its boundaries, indeed,
beyond ones own time.10

2 The formation of contracts

2.1 Obligations sources
In order to begin the examination about the purchase and sale agreement, it
is necessary to draw preliminaries though lines about the formation of every single
contract. This previous analysis demand to understand how some acts can produce
rights and obligations in human life.
Since the Roman law, Gaius mentioned the division of sources in ex contractu
and ex delictu, although his notion of contrahere was completely different from ours.
Almost in the same way, the Institutes of Justinian, largely an adoption of the Institutes
of Gaius from the second century AD,11 added two other categories: the quase ex
contractu and the quase ex delictu.12
The fundamental reception of these four concepts (contract, quasi-contract,
wrong, and quasi-wrong) was promoted by the Napoleonic Code, and through its
rules the sources developed in almost all furthers codes belonging to this family.
For example, the Portuguese Civil Code established the rules to form a contract in

8
BRAGA DA CRUZ, G. Formao Histrica do Moderno Direito Privado Portugus e Brasileiro. Scientia Iuridica IV,
Braga, 1954. p. 256-260.
9
Article 1.417: By purchase and sale commitment, without regret clause, contracted by public or private
instrument, and register in the Land Register, the promissory-buyer acquires real right to buy the property. Free
translation from: Art. 1.417: Mediante promessa de compra e venda, em que se no pactuou arrependimento,
celebrada por instrumento pblico ou particular, e registrada no Cartrio de Registro de Imveis, adquire o
promitente comprador direito real aquisio do imvel.
10
GORDLEY, J. Comparative Legal Research: Its Function in the Development of Harmonized Law. The American
Journal of Comparative Law, vol. 43, n. 4, 1995. p. 557.
11
BUHOFER, S. P. Structuring the Law: The Common Law and the Roman Institutional Scheme. Swiss Review of
International and European Law, vol. 5, 2007. p. 02.
12
The subdivision of obligations can be found in Inst. 3.12.2: There are contracts, quasi-contracts, wrongs (or
delicts) and quasi-wrongs. (BUHOFER, S. P. Structuring the Law: The Common Law and the Roman Institutional
Scheme. Swiss Review of International and European Law, vol. 5, 2007. p. 03).

R. de Dir. Empresarial RDEmp | Belo Horizonte, ano 13, n. 2, p. 143-160, maio/ago. 2016 145
 LUCIANO ZORDAN PIVA

the Section number I of the title Sources of obligations, following the article 405,
and the French Code civil, in its Book Three, Of The Different Modes Of Acquiring
Property, describes what is a contract or conventional obligations in general.
The modern theory of Private Law added the law as a source of obligation,
and nowadays the consecrated sources are summarized in the concepts of contract
and law.13 In this way, the juridical effects could be originated, respectively, from a
volunteer agreement (dispositive competence) or from a rule (normative competence).

2.2 The different development of the juristic act in Germany

While in France and in Italy the rules relating to the formation of the contracts
remained in the Contract Law, in Germany, the attempts to classify the concept of
legal act (any act of a legal person which has effects in private law)14 led to the
development, by the scholars of the Gemeines Recht (the Roman-based law applied
in Germany before 1900),15 of the concept of juristic act. This idea replaced the
narrow sense of contract and reshaped the studies concerning to the Private Law,
influencing the creation of a General Part in almost all Civil Codes that follows the
German system.16
Although the genesis of this concept could be traced back the studies of the
natural lawyers, such as Hugo GROTIUS and Nettelbladt, this type of act as we know
today was well developed by the Pandectists. They introduced it in the Brgerliches
Gesetzbuch (BGB, the Germany Civil code) and in modern doctrine after the development
of the studies of Friedrich Carl von Savigny related to the concepts of legal act and
declaration of intention.17
The BGB deals with the formation of contract under the doctrine of the juristic
act, which is an act that can be conditioned, that is, it can be utilized to regulate
18

private interests (auto-autonomy). Thus, the most important thing regarding the
juristic acts is that the effect ensues precisely because the actor so intended,19 and

13
COUTO E SILVA, C. A Obrigao como Processo. Full Professor Thesis at Federal University of Rio Grande do
Sul (UFRGS), 1964. Reprinted in Rio de Janeiro, 2007. p. 72.
14
ZWEIGERT, K.; KTZ, H. Introduction to Comparative Law, vol. II. Oxford, 1987. p. 02.
15
Idem, p. 03.
16
Brazilian 2002 Civil Code is an example of code that belongs to the German family and, consequently, devel-
oped the theory of the juristic act in its General Part (articles 1 until 232).
17
The reference to paradoxically is because Savigny is considered the founding-father of the Historical School
in the nineteenth century, which preached the need to respect the spirit of the people (Volksgeist) in order
to produce the law, and not force it to people through Codes: Savignys Volksgeist, Puchtas lawyers law,
Beselers peoples law, Jherings purpose in law, and Gierkes social community law (Genossenschaftsrecht),
all these (not to mention Karl Marxs alienation of man in the productive society) are attempts to attune legal
and scholarly consciousness to the new-found historicity and sociability of existence in nation and society.
(WIEACKER, F. A History of Private Law in Europe: with particular reference to Germany. Oxford: Translated by
Tony Weir, 1995. p. 286).
18
ZWEIGERT, K.; KTZ, H. Introduction to Comparative Law, vol. II. Oxford, 1987. p. 04.
19
Idem, p. 03.

146 R. de Dir. Empresarial RDEmp | Belo Horizonte, ano 13, n. 2, p. 143-160, maio/ago. 2016
 THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE PURCHASE AGREEMENT IN A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

that is why the classification of the legal acts, in the German system, obey a more
participation or less participation of the will of the parties.
Particularly, in the juristic acts, the parties have a maximum not absolutely
free - space of will to dictate the content of the obligations, and it works like a legal
framework where one can determine a lot of competences allowed by the legal system.
One of the most famous example of bilateral juristic act with patrimonial content
(when is necessary two concordant declarations of intention) is precisely the contract,
an instrument that aims to enable the exchange of resources.

2.3 The contract of the law of obligations

Summarizing what we have read above, the concept of contract can be described
as a legal outfit of economic transactions that results from the union of two or more
people in an agreed declaration of intention. Although some conveyances or the
contracts of Family or Succession law can have some effect in Private Law when they
have to come into being by agreement, it is the contract of the Law of Obligations that
really matters for our purpose.
This because the relationship resulting from the Law of Obligations covers all
types of rights, and, stricto sensu, includes the elements that compose the credit
and the debit. In this way, the acts performed by the creditor and by the debtor affect
the legal system creating, respectively, rights and duties for each one.
Accordingly, to oblige is to undergo a link, and this link starts to be broken when
the due performance occurs (solutio). It is clear to see, in this way, that the process in
the Law of Obligations assumes, basically, two phases: (i) the born and development
of the duties; and (ii) the due performance of these duties.
When an obligation (duty created by the link that one is submitted) does not
refer to the transfer of ownership, the due performance is realized in the plan of
the Law of Obligations.20 However, it is exactly when the due performance is related
to the transfer of ownership that the distinction between the phases of the born
and development of the duties and the phase of the due performance have its most
important role; and is dealing with this distinction that we will analyze the effects of
the purchase and sale agreement.

3 The purchase agreement and the duality of plans

This importance that we mentioned above has one logical reason: when the
performance refers to the transfer of ownership the due performance moves from

20
COUTO E SILVA, C. A Obrigao como Processo. Full Professor Thesis at Federal University of Rio Grande do
Sul (UFRGS), 1964. Reprinted in Rio de Janeiro, 2007. p. 48.

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 LUCIANO ZORDAN PIVA

the plan of the Law of Obligations to the plan of the Law of Things. Concerning to our
purpose, is precisely the difference between the way that Portuguese and German
system deal with the effects of this movement that completely change the nature of
the purchase agreement in each legal family.

3.1 The origins of the duality of plans

The division between the plan of the Law of Obligations and the plan of the
Law of Things can be traced back to the Roman law, when, besides the agreement
in the plan of the Law of Obligations (obligational agreement), it was mandatory in
order to transfer the ownership that one of the three types of acts in the law of things
happened: the mancipatio, the in iure cessio or the traditio.21
On the other hand, the principle that allowed the transfer of ownership solo
consensus, it means, transmitting the ownership directly by the agreement contracted
in the plan of the Law of Obligations (obligational agreement), can be traced back the
Ps-Glossators, like Baldus DE UBALDIS, who first mentioned this idea in the fourteenth
century. As Ubaldis was master of many Canonists law students, such as Pierre
Roger de Beaufort (later nominated Pope Gregory XI), the principle of solo consensus
influenced the Canon law, and traveled to the Napoleonic Code through the jurists of
the rational Law of Nature, notably Grotius and Nettelbladt.22
It is interesting to notice that this principle existed in the ancient German Law,
where the Law differed between sala, as an agreement in the law of things that
transfer inter parties the ownership, and investiture, legal act required for transfer
immovable things. However, with the evolution of the German law, the mandatory
investitura become symbolic, and the transfer of the ownership start to be done by
notarial acts that, modernly, influenced the development of the Auflassung.23

3.2 The effects of the purchase and sale agreement in the

Portuguese system of non-separation of plans
Analyzing the first Portuguese Civil Code, of 1867, one could think that in
Portugal the idea that the purchase and sale agreement transfer ownership without
the necessity of another act or instrument (principle of solo consensus) was developed
through the years as in France (article 711 of the Code civil) and in Italy (articles 922

21
Idem, p. 21.
22
In matters of substance the Code civil reflects the Law of Reason by allowing transfer of property by mere
agreement and, as originally enacted, in its liberal law of divorce. (WIEACKER, F. A History of Private Law in
Europe: with particular reference to Germany. Oxford: Translated by Tony Weir, 1995. p. 272).
23
COUTO E SILVA, C. A Obrigao como Processo. Full Professor Thesis at Federal University of Rio Grande do
Sul (UFRGS), 1964. Reprinted in Rio de Janeiro, 2007. p. 22.

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 THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE PURCHASE AGREEMENT IN A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

and 1.470 of the Codice civile), and then crystallized in the Portuguese civil tradition
and in the Code by the article 715:

In the purchases of determined and exact things, the transfer of ownership

happens between the contracting parties, just by effect of the contract,
without subjection of further real act (traditio) or possession, material or
symbolic, except if remains an particular agreement or clause in another
sense.24

And, consequently, in the article 874 of the current Portuguese Civil code,
although with another words, but conserving the same meaning:

Purchase and sale agreement is the contract whereby it transfers the

ownership of something or of some right, for a price.

However, one of the duties of a historical research is to read old documents to

learn about the past,25 and reading the historical development of the Portuguese law
we can see that, until the promulgation of the Civil Code of 1867, that is to say, during
the long term of the Ordenaes,26 the purchase and sale agreement only created the
obligation to the seller transfer the ownership, keeping its domain until the traditio.27
Accordingly, the question that arises is: why a consecrated and legislated effect
over more than four centuries of the purchase and sale agreement could suddenly
change?
This question can be answer using two explanations: first of all, before the works
of Antnio Lus Seabra over the Portuguese Civil Code of 1867 started, it was spread
over Portugal that in the written purchase agreements a common costume was to add
a clause indicating that the seller transfer the ownership just by the contract;28 and,
secondly, because of the influence of the rationalist school of Natural Law that, as
we said above, preached the principle of sole consensus and inspired the Napoleonic
Code, a source that pleased the Portuguese jurists of this time,29 such as Antnio
Lus Seabra.

24
Free translation from: Artigo 715: Nas alienaes de cousas certas e determinadas, a transferncia da pro-
priedade opera-se entre os contrahentes, por mero effeito do contrato, sem dependencia de tradio ou de
posse, quer material, quer symbolica, salvo havendo accordo das partes em contrrio.
25
GORDLEY, J. Why Look Backward. The American Journal of Comparative Law, vol. 50, n. 4, Fall 2002. p. 657.
26
Compilations of the royal laws and divided in Afonsinas, Manuelinas and Filipinas, respectively, indicating the
name of the kings D. Afonso V, D. Manuel I and D. Filipe I.
27
JUSTO, A. S. A Base Romanista do Direito Luso-brasileiro das Coisas (algumas figuras jurdicas). Access in
October 20th 2013, p. 04. through the link: <http://www.oa.pt/Conteudos/Artigos/detalhe_artigo.aspx?idc=3
0777&idsc=84043&ida=84110>. Acesso em: 20 mai. 2016.
28
COELHO DA ROCHA, M.A. Instituies de Direito Civil Portuguez. Coimbra, 1886. p. 649.
29
JUSTO, A. S. A Base Romanista do Direito Luso-brasileiro das Coisas (algumas figuras jurdicas). Access in
October 20th 2013, p. 04. through the link: <http://www.oa.pt/Conteudos/Artigos/detalhe_artigo.aspx?idc=3
0777&idsc=84043&ida=84110>. Acesso em: 20 mai. 2016.

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 LUCIANO ZORDAN PIVA

It is important to keep in mind this historical overview in order to understand

why Brazil, although strongly influenced by Portuguese Law tradition, chose a different
system regarding the effects of the purchase and sale agreement, illustrating that
the nature of this contract is extremely filled with historical and comparative aspects.

3.3 The effects of the purchase and sale agreement in the

German system of totally separation of plans
As we mentioned, the German legal family developed the doctrine of the juristic
act and, linked to this theory, the old and narrow sense of contract still remaining in
the Romanistic legal family - could be replaced for one much wider and useful: contract
as a bilateral juristic act with patrimonial content.
Two relevant consequences concerning to the theory of the juristic act can be
seen in the BGB: first of all, comparing with all other codes, the BGB is much more
abstract, making, for example, irrelevant the so important in the Romanistic system
concept of causa30 when referring to the formation of contracts; and, secondly, the
last development of the Pandectism related to this theory helped to highlight the
concept of juristic act in the Law of things.
Accordingly, the product of this legal framework in the German system is that the
Law of Obligations is strongly separated to the Law of Things, resulting that the juristic
act that performance the obligation (the transfer agreement) is abstract and situated
in the plan of the Law of Things.31
In this sense, it is necessary that at least three legal acts happen, in the purchase
and sale cases, in order to transfer an asset: the purchase and sale agreement
(obligational plan), the agreement regarding the ownership transfer of the asset sold
(juristic act in the Law of things plan), and a transfer agreement related to the price
(another juristic act in the Law of things plan). Summarizing, in the German system,
the purchase and sale agreement is not enough to transfer the ownership (it just
create the obligation to transfer), what consequently originate a separation between
the plans of the Law of Obligation and the Law of Things, because further acts in this
last plan must be done in order to completely transfer the ownership.

30
According to Couto e Silva, the classical theory related the concept of causa with patrimonial attribution,
meaning that when talking about transfer of assets, there is no attribution without causa., p. 49. For deeper
analysis concerning this theme, see: AZEVEDO, A. J. de. Negcio Jurdico. Existncia, Validade e Eficcia.
Second Edition, So Paulo, 1986 (Precisely in the Third chapter, 3, title III); and BROGGINI, G. Causa e con-
tratto nella prospettiva storico-comparatistica. Torino, 1997.
31
COUTO E SILVA, C. A Obrigao como Processo. Full Professor Thesis at Federal University of Rio Grande do
Sul (UFRGS), 1964. Reprinted in Rio de Janeiro, 2007. p. 50.

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 THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE PURCHASE AGREEMENT IN A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

3.4 Brazilian system of relative separation of plans

When we wrote about the development in Portugal concerning to the effects
of the purchase and sale agreement, we highlighted that the Portuguese legislator
diverted from the Ordenaes tradition when established that the purchase and sale
agreement affected directly the plan of the Law of Things (solo consensus).
Precisely for not following this deviation, because kept having as a legal source
the Filipinas Ordenaes even after its Independence,32 Brazil remained in its legal
system with the theory of separation of plans, since the purchase and sale agreement
only creates obligational effects and does not transfer the ownership just by itself.
Reading the previous paragraph, one might think that in Brazil the legal effects
of the purchase and sale agreement are the same that in Germany, and, for example,
the juristic act in the Law of things that transfers the ownership could be adjusted by
the parties (like the German agreement regarding the ownership transfer of the asset
sold), because it is an abstract agreement.
Nevertheless, concerning to this subject, it is a mistake put Germany and Brazil
in the same system, although Brazilian civil law is strongly influenced by German legal
thinking. This because in Brazil prevails the relative system of separation of plans, in
which the declaration of intention that creates the obligation (e.g. the purchase and
sale agreement) is co-declared in the legal act that transfer the ownership.
In practice, when someone sells an immovable property, is showing that, at the
same moment, wants to performance what was promised,33 and so a next juristic act
or declaration of intention is unnecessary. This system can be traced back the Roman
law, in which the separation between the Law of Obligations and the Law of Things
was relative too.34
Finally, it is important to keep this distinction between the German and the
Brazilian systems in mind when we will describe the role of the purchase and sale
commitment. That because, once the declaration of intention is co-declared in the
juristic act of purchase and sale, the rules and principles regarding the formation of
the juristic act will reflect on both moments of creation of the obligation and of the
due performance.

32
JUSTO, A. S. A Base Romanista do Direito Luso-brasileiro das Coisas (algumas figuras jurdicas). Access in
October 20th 2013, p. 06. through the link: <http://www.oa.pt/Conteudos/Artigos/detalhe_artigo.aspx?idc=3
0777&idsc=84043&ida=84110>. Acesso em: 20 mai. 2016. The author adds that, in fact, since the discov-
ery of Brazil until its independence the Law was the same, and did not change after. This Law was introduced
by the Portuguese and remained almost completely faithful to Portuguese legal tradition, which roots are found
in the Roman law. Free translation from p. 10.
33
COUTO E SILVA, C. A Obrigao como Processo. Full Professor Thesis at Federal University of Rio Grande do
Sul (UFRGS), 1964. Reprinted in Rio de Janeiro, 2007. p. 52.
34
For further analysis regarding the Roman contract of sale, see: (GORDLEY, J. The Origins of Sale: Some lessons
from the Romans. Tulane Law Review, vol. 84, n. 06, 2010).

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 LUCIANO ZORDAN PIVA

4 The role of the purchase and sale commitment

Any contract can be preceded by a preliminary agreement that will have, as its
principal obligation, the purpose to originate, to do another agreement the principal
contract. In this sense, the famous preliminary agreement in Civil law tradition is the
purchase and sale commitment, which, consequently, has as its main obligation the
contractual parties intention to do a further purchase and sale agreement.
The main idea of the purchase and sale commitment is to ensure that the
creditor will receive what belongs to him, without putting in danger the immovable
property gives as a guarantee by the debtor.35 This is an important institute, once the
debtor can utilized the property since the beginning, while the creditor still have the
ownership until the final purchase and sale agreement is due performed.

4.1 The purchase and sale commitment in the Portuguese

system of non-separation of plans
The Portuguese Civil code of 1966 describes the purchase and sale commitment
in the article 410, stating, in the first line, that it is the convention in which someone
obliges himself to do another contract.
As we can see, the rule is that the promissory agreement cannot be due
performed by one of the parties, being enough that the one who wants to be free just
pay the satisfaction to the other part.36
This is precisely important in a system that the effects of the purchase and
sale agreement act in the plan of the Law of Things, because, in the case of the
purchase and sale commitment, the rights and duties will arise in the plan of the Law
of Obligations, creating a system of separation of plans precisely in a system that
usually does not have this separation.

4.2 The purchase and sale commitment in the German

system of separation of plans
Unlike in Portugal, the purchase and sale commitment in Germany (the Vorvertrag)
it is not so common and utilized. That is because, as we described above, the German
system completely separate the plans regarding the Law of Obligations and the Law
of Things.

35
BESSONE, D. Da Compra e Venda Promessa e Reserva de Domnio. Third Edition. So Paulo, 1988. p. 5.
36
POZZA, P. L. Negcio Preliminar de Compra e Venda de Bens Imveis e seus Efeitos: uma passagem do direito
obrigacional para o direito real. Access in October 18th 2013, p. 17. through the link: <http://www.tjrs.jus.br/
export/poder_judiciario/tribunal_de_justica/centro_de_estudos/doutrina/doc/negocio_preliminar_compra_e_
venda.doc>. Acesso em: 21 mai. 2016.

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 THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE PURCHASE AGREEMENT IN A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

Actually, the BGB not even describes specifically the institute, just because the
difference between the purchase and sale agreement only with obligational effects
and the legal abstract act that transfers the ownership are already carefully distinct
in the Code.37
One curious consequence of the lack of use of this agreement in business is
that the jurisprudence frequently consider this contract, when in doubt, as a definitive
one, although the Zivilprozessordnung (ZPO) state, in the 894, that it is possible to
the injured part oblige the other part to declare his intention to do another contract.38

4.3 The purchase and sale commitment in the Brazilian

relative separation of plans
The origins of this institute in Brazil have a peculiar and interesting social
history. In the legal framework, the purchase and sale commitment was created by
the Government-Act number 58, of 1937, in order to protect the promissory-buyers
of blended real estate properties, usually people that were going out of the fields
towards the city (exodus rural).39
The root of the problem was that, in this period (since 1930), Brazil was passing
by a huge social transformation, in which a lot of people were migrating from the
field to the city, and the search for a place to live originated a strong movement of
speculative land division in the marginal areas of the cities.40
As people that migrated were mostly not rich people, the common, and sometimes
only way, to buy a real estate property was paying in installments. Legally talking, the
institute that was used for such negotiation was the sale and purchase commitment.
However, in this time, the legal rule that dealt with the purchase and sale
commitment, article 1088,41 of the 1916 Civil Code, allowed the right of regret by
simply returning what was paid. With this system, the cheats multiplied,42 because
the rule was just used by the promissory-seller, since with the continuous valorization

37
Idem, p. 15.
38
SANCHEZ, S. Compromisso de Compra e Venda. Ajuris Law Review, vol. 25, n. 70. 1997. p. 10.
39
POZZA, P. L. Negcio Preliminar de Compra e Venda de Bens Imveis e seus Efeitos: uma passagem do direito
obrigacional para o direito real. Access in October 18th 2013, p. 21. through the link: <http://www.tjrs.jus.br/
export/poder_judiciario/tribunal_de_justica/centro_de_estudos/doutrina/doc/negocio_preliminar_compra_e_
venda.doc>. Acesso em: 21 mai. 2016.
40
BRANCO, G. Alteraes no regime da execuo das obrigaes decorrentes do Compromisso de Compra e
Venda. Access in October 17th 2013, p. 03. through the link: <http://www.gersonbranco.com.br/view_file.php
?cl=artigo&fn=arquivo&id=34>. Acesso em: 20 maoi. 2016.
41
Free translation: Article 1088: When the public instrument is demanded as proof of the contract, any of the
parties have the right to regret, before sign it, returning to the other part the losses and damages resulting from
the regret.
42
BRANCO, G. Alteraes no regime da execuo das obrigaes decorrentes do Compromisso de Compra e
Venda. Access in October 17th 2013, p. 04. through the link: <http://www.gersonbranco.com.br/view_file.php
?cl=artigo&fn=arquivo&id=34>. Acesso em: 20 maoi. 2016.

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 LUCIANO ZORDAN PIVA

of the real estate properties it was worth to return what was paid and sell it to another
person for higher values.43
The problem was solved, as we see before, in 1937 with the Government-Act
number 58, which regulated the purchase and sale agreement and established rules
that still remain in the Civil Code. Nowadays, the Brazilian Civil Code of 2002 regulates
this institute in the articles 462 to 466, with some peculiarities related to its system
of relative separation of plans that we need to mention.
Unlike what was established in the Civil Code of 1916, since 1937 the legal
framework for the purchase and sale commitment demands that in this type of contract
it is not allowed any kind of regret clause. Furthermore, except its form, the preliminary
agreement must have all the elements that the principal contract must have.
Moreover, the rule in the first paragraph of the article 463 established another
requisite: the register44 in the competent public agency, a peculiarity that is precisely
related with our purpose in this essay. That is because the ruler, when set the register
as a requisite for this contract, determined that an obligation to do something (in
casu, the obligation to do the principal contract) may generate effects in the plan of
the Law of things.
Determining such a thing, the ruler ignored the system of relative separation
of plans in Brazil and gave more extension to the purchase and sale commitment
effects than to the purchase and sale agreement (the principal contract!). It because
the purchase and sale agreement does not transfers the ownership; it just creates
the obligation to transfer the ownership that will be done after the register in the
competent public agency, the legal act in the plan of the Law of things. However, with
this requisite, the purchase and sale commitment will transfer the ownership even
without the purchase and sale agreement.
That is why nowadays the Brazilian jurisprudence has positioned in the sense
to consider the register just as an instrument to publicize the purchase and sale
commitment against third parties, and not as an indispensable requisite of the
contract, although what determines the Civil Code.

5 Analysis
Until now we developed the content in a way that we could examine the principal
differences between the Portuguese and the German systems regarding the effects of

43
POZZA, P. L. Negcio Preliminar de Compra e Venda de Bens Imveis e seus Efeitos: uma passagem do direito
obrigacional para o direito real. Access in October 18th 2013, p. 21. through the link: <http://www.tjrs.jus.br/
export/poder_judiciario/tribunal_de_justica/centro_de_estudos/doutrina/doc/negocio_preliminar_compra_e_
venda.doc>. Acesso em: 21 mai. 2016.
44
Free translation: Article 463: 1. The preliminary contract must be register in the competent public agency.

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 THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE PURCHASE AGREEMENT IN A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

the purchase and sale agreement in the Law of Obligations and the Law of Things of
each system. Furthermore, we analyzed the role of the purchase and sale commitment
in order to detect how this preliminary contract is ruled in the different systems and
to identify changes that may help to answer what is the nature of the purchase and
sale agreement.

5.1 Legacies (pros and contras) of each system

European Civil Law tradition can be divided into two major categories concerning
to the effects that the purchase and sale agreement generate in the Law of Obligations
and in the Law of Things: Portuguese system of non-separation of plans; and German
system of totally separation of plans. Once we described the historical development
of these two families regarding the purchase and sale agreement effects, it is time
to report the legacies of each system in order to advance to the examination of its
nature.

5.1.1 Main features of the Portuguese system

Concerning to the effects of the purchase and sale agreement in Portugal,
the Portuguese system followed the French tradition of non-separation of plans.
Consequently, it means that this type of contract, just by its conclusion (due
performance), transfers the ownership directly, without the need to have a further act
in the Law of Things.
In few words, we can say that this system attributes real effects to the purchase
and sale agreement, and the justification of such statement is confirmed by reading
the article 408, numbers 1,45 and articles 874 and 879.46
The consequence of such type of system, in a first glance, let us infer that the
transactions may happen in a quicker way, once fewer acts are required in order to
transfer the ownership. But, at the same time, a lot of inconveniences are detected,
such as the unknown about the exact moment of the transfer of the ownership, and
the problem caused when the seller does not give the sold thing, although the buyer
already have its ownership.
In the Procedure Law, the results can be divided in two plans: in the subjective
sphere, since the contract was performed, the buyer may have the possibility to use a
lawsuit based on his ownership right, a group of lawsuits that can be managed against

45
Free translation: Article 408, 1: The constitution or transfer of real rights about determined thing occurs by just
effect of the contract, except considerations provided by law.
46
Free translation: Article 879: The purchase and sale agreement have as essential effects: a) the transfer of
the thing or right ownership; b) the obligation to give the thing; c) the obligation to pay the price.

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 LUCIANO ZORDAN PIVA

everyone; in the objective sphere, the central object of the lawsuit will be precisely the
delivery of the thing, letting the purchase and sale agreement untouchable.47
In this sense, the two greatest consequences provided by this system are to
consider the purchase and sale agreement as a way to acquire ownership without
any further real act, and left to the plan of the Law of Things the role to deal with
further problems regarding the moment after the execution of the sale and purchase
agreement. Accordingly, principles regarding the due performance of the obligations
created by the contract are stronger in the system of separation of plans, as we will
see now.

5.1.2 Main features of the German system

The German system deals with the effects of the purchase and sale agreement
based on the idea of the separation between the Law of Obligations and the Law of
Things plans. This statement is justified by the rule in the Section 43348 of the BGB
combined with the rule in the Section 92949 of the same Code.
Results from this legal framework are the construction of two main principles:
the consent principle, in which two agreements are created (one about the obligation
to transfer the ownership that only generate effects between the contracting parties,
and other about the transfer itself that generate effects erga omnes); another is the
abstract principle, meaning that the defects of the obligational agreement does not
affect the transfer agreement (legal act in the Law of Things plan).
The greatest consequence is that, even if the contract is declared invalidate,
the buyer does not loses the ownership,50 although he probably will must pay the
price in order to avoid an unjust enrichment. Furthermore, this lawsuit, unlike in the
Portuguese system, will be limited to the plan of the Law of Obligations, precisely
because the totally separation of the plans does not allow that the purchase contract
affected the plan of the Law of Things.

47
VENTURA, R. O Contrato de Compra e Venda no Cdigo Civil. Access in October 18th 2013, p. 622. through
the link: <http://www.estig.ipbeja.pt/~ac_direito/compravenda3.pdf>. Acesso em: 20 jun. 2016.
48
Section 433: Typical contractual duties in a purchase agreement
(1) By a purchase agreement, the seller of a thing is obliged to deliver the thing to the buyer and to procure
ownership of the thing for the buyer. The seller must procure the thing for the buyer free from material and legal
defects.
(2) The buyer is obliged to pay the seller the agreed purchase price and to accept delivery of the thing
purchased. Source: <http://www.fd.ul.pt/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=KrjHyaFOKmw%3D&tabid=505>. Access
in October 20th of 2013.
49
Section 929: Agreement and delivery
For the transfer of the ownership of a movable thing, it is necessary that the owner delivers the thing to the
acquirer and both agree that ownership is to pass. If the acquirer is in possession of the thing, agreement
on the transfer of the ownership suffices. Source: <http://www.fd.ul.pt/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=KrjHyaFOK-
mw%3D&tabid=505>. Access in October 20th of 2013.
50
MAGALHES, V. B. de. Compra e Venda e Sistemas de Transmisso da Propriedade. Rio de Janeiro: First
Edition, 1981. p. 15, 16.

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Moreover, the division of plans is useful to differentiate the creation of an

obligation and its due performance, establishing a divisor line between the principles
that should affect one or other moment. This is important because, even more
nowadays, the juristic acts are realized in situations that the creditor is unknown, so
the determination of the object before the due performance is vital to avoid defects
in the contract.51
As an example, if the buyer pays the price using a wrong currency, he still will
have the obligation to pay with the right one, and not just return what was received
(that will be the solution in the Portuguese system, because the ownership was already
transferred). Furthermore, the onus of the proof of the payment will still be with the
buyer, because it is an effect created by an obligational agreement (the purchase
contract).52
Although some jurists criticize the complexity of this system,53 the separation of
plans derives from a logical consequence under the distinction between the juristic
act in the obligational plan and the juristic act in the Law of things plan. This because,
explain Professor Clvis do Couto e Silva, when the performance is related to
ownership acquisition, it is still necessary the existence of a juristic act in the Law of
things plan, because is precisely there that the due performance happens.54

5.2 The nature of the purchase and sale agreement

After the whole development of this essay, we are sure to affirm that the nature
of the purchase contract must be search through a historical analysis and under
a comparative perspective. This because one reason: the origin of this institute
is connected with one of the most basic human beings instincts, the exchange of
resources.
That is way the examination about the different effects that this contract
reflects in important European Legal families, like German and Romanistic, shows
us that the nature of the purchase contract cannot be individualized and dictated
by a single phrase or paragraph. On the other hand, its nature must be understood
as a continuous development of each legal orders, always highlighting the time &
space that the institute is been analyzed in order to have a precise concept.
As an example, we mentioned in the first part of the essay that, in the ancient
German law, the principle of solo consensus ruled the effects of the purchase and sale

51
COUTO E SILVA, C. A Obrigao como Processo. Full Professor Thesis at Federal University of Rio Grande do
Sul (UFRGS), 1964. Reprinted in Rio de Janeiro, 2007. p. 60.
52
VENTURA, R. O Contrato de Compra e Venda no Cdigo Civil. Access in October 18th 2013, p. 588. through the
link: <http://www.estig.ipbeja.pt/~ac_direito/compravenda3.pdf>. Acesso em: 20 jun. 2016.
53
LARENZ, K. Derecho de Obligaciones. Madrid: Revista de Derecho Privado, 1958. p. 15.
54
COUTO E SILVA, C. A Obrigao como Processo. Full Professor Thesis at Federal University of Rio Grande do
Sul (UFRGS), 1964. Reprinted in Rio de Janeiro, 2007. p. 51.

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 LUCIANO ZORDAN PIVA

agreement. Nevertheless, the development of different institutes and the creation of

new theories such as the juristic act theory completely changed the legal framework
of the German system, creating the so important concept of the separation of plans.
Furthermore, is relevant to notice that in the systems of non-separation of
plans and relative separation of plans the tendency is to deepen the use of institutes
that create or strengthen this separation. As an example that we see before, the
Portuguese purchase and sale commitment is much more utilized than the German
similar, and the Brazilian purchase and sale commitment extend the effects of its
declaration of intention to the purchase and sale agreement the principal contract,
as an effect of its relative separation of plans.
Such example allow us to conclude that the legal separation between the Law
of Obligations and the Law of Things plans can explain that one of the natures of
the purchase and sale agreement is precisely to be performed in one plan (the Law
of Obligations), but indirectly create effects regarding the transfer of ownership (the
Law of Things).
The way that each legal system deals with the rules of the purchase and
sale agreement will guide the effects that this contract will create. However, the
unchangeable characteristic and for us one of its nature is that this contract
reflect the historical development of the European continental legal culture, following
the legal, social and economical changes through the centuries.

Desenvolvimento histrico do contrato de compra e venda no Direito comparado

Resumo: O presente artigo tem como objetivo examinar o desenvolvimento histrico do contrato de compra
e venda na perspectiva do Direito comparado, a fim de relacionar sua origem com a cultura jurdica romano-
germnica, que tem grande influncia para o Direito brasileiro. Consequentemente, duas questes podem
ser feitas. A primeira questo que se prope diz respeito a quais so as principais diferenas em relao
aos efeitos que o contrato de compra e venda produz no Direito das Obrigaes e no Direito das Coisas,
tanto no sistema portugus, quanto no ordenamento jurdico alemo? Ademais, outra questo que est
relacionada anterior refere-se a como uma anlise histrica e comparativa entre esses dois sistemas
pode fornecer elementos para delinear notas introdutrias sobre a natureza do contrato de compra e
venda? Isso porque, uma vez que a origem desse instituto est conectada com um dos mais bsicos
instintos do ser humano, isto , a troca de recursos, a natureza do contrato de compra e venda deve
ser buscada numa anlise histrica e sob uma perspectiva comparativa. Em suma, possvel afirmar
que esse contrato reflete o desenvolvimento histrico da tradio jurdica romano-germnica, seguindo as
mudanas legais, sociais e econmicas que ocorreram nos sculos, o que significa uma grande influncia
nos institutos legais e contratuais utilizados hoje no Direito brasileiro.

Palavras-chave: Direito. Contrato de compra e venda. Histria. Direito comparado.

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 LUCIANO ZORDAN PIVA

Informao bibliogrfica deste texto, conforme a NBR 6023:2002 da Associao

Brasileira de Normas Tcnicas (ABNT):

PIVA, Luciano Zordan. The historical development of the purchase agreement in

a comparative analysis. Revista de Direito Empresarial RDEmp, Belo Horizonte,
ano 13, n. 2, p. 143-160, maio/ago. 2016.

Recebido em: 12.06.2015

Aprovado em: 30.03.2016

160 R. de Dir. Empresarial RDEmp | Belo Horizonte, ano 13, n. 2, p. 143-160, maio/ago. 2016