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Doctrine

Good faith (law)

Contract and Property Doctrine
Origin Ancient Roman law (bona fides)

In law, good faith, from the Latin bona fides, refers to the mental and moral state of honesty and genuine conviction as to the truth or falsity of a proposition, and the concept carries particular weight in matters of equity, tracing back as far as the original Magna Carta. In contract law, courts in most jurisdictions presume that parties will deal with each other honestly, and the implied covenant of good faith holds that contracting parties must act so as not to destroy the other party's ability to receive the benefits the contract promises; an insurer's breach of this covenant can give rise to a separate claim of insurance bad faith. Most courts in the United States treat breach of the covenant of good faith as a contract violation, and common law jurisdictions such as the United Kingdom and Canada have more recently recognized good faith as a broader organizing principle governing contractual relationships generally. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
Origin Period
Ancient Roman law (bona fides) 1
Core Principle
Parties to a contract are presumed to deal with each other honestly and fairly, and must not destroy the other party's right to receive the benefits of the contract. 1
Origin Period
Origin Period (category)
Roman Law 1
Classification
Doctrine Category
Contract Law 2
Connections

In Area Of Law

Entity-backed identity for the doctrine category value this doctrine already carries as an enum fact, resolved to a doctrine entity by an explicit value-to-entity map (phase 3 bucket conversion, docs\design_entity_backed_browse_buckets_20260928.md). The enum fact itself stays on the entity unchanged.

Sources
1. Good faith (Wikipedia)
  • Bona fides section
    For the ancient Romans, bona fides was to be assumed by both sides, with implied responsibilities and both legal and religious consequences if broken.
  • Law section, contract law paragraph
    In contract law, the implied covenant of good faith is a general presumption that the parties to a contract will deal with each other honestly and fairly, so as not to destroy the right of the other party or parties to receive the benefits of the contract.
View the Source
2. Wikipedia: Good faith (law)
the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing is a general presumption that parties to a contract will deal with each other honestlyView the Source
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