ABSTRACT
The rule of laesio enormis allows the disadvantaged party to circumvent the constraints of a legal transaction when being exploited by the other party, serving as a crucial legal device of private law justice. Originating in late antiquity, laesio enormis was initially implemented as a special intervention to protect vulnerable land sellers. In the medieval, the theory of just price made fairness in exchange a normal criterion for a valid legal transaction. Since modern times, despite the supremacy of autonomy of will, the substantive fairness of legal transaction has never been neglected. In free market, laesio enormis passively serves as a guardian of autonomy of will; but when exploitation arises, it positively acts as the pivotal in correcting freedom of contract. The historical evolution of the rule of laesio enormis reveals the interplay between autonomy of will and protection of the weak party, corresponding to the transition of justice in private law.
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Jinxian Chen, Laesio Enormis: Origin and Historical Evolution, (2024) 12 Sapienza Legal Papers 507-532.
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