Un influjo frustrado del derecho canónico en el código civil de chile: mala fides superveniens nocet

Abstract

Canon law has influenced several articles of the Chilean civil code. Most of the time, the canon contents of those articles appear in the first bills of the code so that, although fre­quently with a wording different from that of the original, such canon contents are ultimately accepted by the code. An exception is Art. 702, according to which, for regular possession to exist, it requires acquisition in good faith, even if this does not subsist after the possession has been acquired. The 1853 Bill addressed the canon law principle, according to which, good faith was necessary in the en-tire course of the possession; its review by the courts of justice led La Serena Court of Appeals to suggest the replacement of the canon principle which oriented the norm with the Roman law principle addressed in the Partidas*, which, in the end, was accepted. The origins of the mala fides superveniens nocet principle, its acceptance to the 1853 Bill as well as the suggestion to remove it from the final Bill are analyzed.

* [N. B.: Las Siete Partidas is the most im­portant systematization of medieval law, compiled in Spanish by Alfonso X the Wise, c. 1251.]