Page 347 - Latent Defect or Excessive Price?Exploring Early Modern Legal Approach to Remedying Defects in Goods Exchanged for Money - Bruijn

CHAPTER SEVEN
purposes.29
Westphal, law professor in Halle and, according to Landsberg, 'ein Vielschreiber
ohne erheblichen Werth'30, proves which strong influence ius commune-doctrine exercised on the legal minds just prior to the ALR. In particular, he categorically separates the duty to safeguard from latent defects from other duties a seller has, e.g., the duty to safeguard the buyer from eviction by a third party. The latter he terms Gewährung der Mängel which is, according to Westphal, something different from Gewährsleistung for latent defects. In line with usus modernus-theory, Westphal treats the remedies coming with Gewährsleistung as separate from those falling under the term Gewährung der Mängel. All have their own limitation periods and rules of liability and applicability.31
Despite the prevalence of usus modernus-doctrine at the time, 18th century Prussian law about defects in the thing sold was also influenced by natural law theory. One of the main features of natural law thinking was that it deduced legal arguments from general principles. For contracts the requirement of fairness in exchange proved such a guiding principle. As observed in the previous chapter, many scholars believed that this requirement best found its expression in the remedy for lesion beyond moiety and its inherent just price.32
Conceptual natural law thinking sometimes seemed difficult to rhyme with the characteristics of usus modernus-doctrine which originated in an inductive ius commune- approach to law. How it nonetheless percolated through and became mixed with usus modernus-theory, can be demonstrated by the writings of Johann Ludwig Schmid (1726- 1792). Professor in Jena and legal practitioner, first as assistant to Jena's aldermen court, later in the Saxon High Court, Schmid must have been well versed into both doctrine and practice.33 Both materialised in his Practisches Lehrbuch von gerichtlichen Klagen und Einreden. Schmid ranges the seller's duties to safeguard from eviction, encumbrances and latent defects, under one and the same heading of Gewährleistung.34 Nonetheless, the content of this general safeguarding duty such as the remedies of the receiving party has, remains strongly inspired by ius commune-doctrine.
As explained in the preceding chapter, natural law reasoning had also induced some scholars to argue against fairness in exchange as a basis for contemporary contract law. Thomasius vehemently discarded the concept as a 'chimerical' requirement of contract law imposed by clerics who were solely driven by their agenda to impregnate civil
29 Glück, Ausführliche Erläuterung, §1107, p. 135-137.
30 E. Landsberg, 'Westphal, Ernst Christian', in: ADB 42 (1897), pp. 197-198.
31 Westphal, Lehre, § 366, p. 287-288: 'Sie \[i.e. Gewähr der Mängel\] ist von der Pflicht zur Gewährsleistung
unterschieden'.
32 See section 6.3.
33 A. von Eisenhart, 'Schmid, Johann Ludwig', in: ADB 31 (1890), p. 671.
34 Schmid, Practisches Lehrbuch von gerichtlichen Klagen und Einreden, § 894, p. 463 (about the actio
empti): 'Dahin gehört, 1) dass die Sache von allem Besitz leer sey; 2) dass sie die erforderliche Grösse und eigenschaft habe; besonders das sie nicht fehlerhaft \[note x to D. 19.1.11.3/4 and D. 21.1.4.4\], nicht mit dienstbarkeiten \[note y to D. 21.1.61\], nicht mit einem Pfandrecht, noch mit andern ungewöhnlichen Lasten beschwert sei'.
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