Business Contracts

By its very nature, a contract of sale is a contract for the transfer of ownership. Article 1583 of the Civil Code stipulates that the sale “is completed between the parties, and ownership is automatically acquired by the buyer from the seller, as soon as the thing and the price have been settled, even if the thing has not yet been delivered or the price paid” . This principle gives rise to a number of effects produced by the contract of sale. In addition to the transfer of ownership referred to in the text, the sale also entails the transfer of risks and incidentals.

This principle is reflected in the preliminary draft of the law of special contracts, which provides in Article 1609, paragraph 1 that: “Ownership of the property sold is acquired by the buyer by operation of law from the seller, as soon as the contract is concluded, even though the property has not yet been delivered or the price paid”.

138. Transfer of rights in rem