Part I

George-Alexandru ILIE, Assistant Professor, Ph.D., Faculty of Law, University of Bucharest, Contributions to the Delimitation and Correlation of Risk Theory in Relation to Other Institutions of Civil Law

The theory of risk in contracts can be regarded as an autonomous legal institution, built around the premise of fortuitous impossibility of contract performance. Its distinction from other similar legal institutions serves as an argument in support of this autonomy. The concept of non-performance, closely related to fortuitous impossibility, necessitates linking the theory of risks to rescission, lapse, and the defense of non-performance. Implied by the occurrence of a fortuitous circumstance after the conclusion of the contract (not to be confused with the aleatory element of the contract), the theory of risk approaches unforeseeability, without, however, being confused with it. Finally, as a cause of the contract’s ineffectiveness, the theory of risk must be distinguished from nullity and the condition subsequent.

Keywords: risk in contracts, breach of contract, unforeseeability