Civil Law L1 Study Sheets

Legal Personality

Legal personality is the capacity to hold rights and bear obligations. It is acquired at birth (Art. 318 Civil Code) provided the child is born alive and viable, and ends at death (Art. 78). The maxim infans conceptus allows personality to retroact to conception when it benefits the child (inheritance, life insurance).

Legal Capacity

• Capacity to enjoy rights (capacité de jouissance): inherent to all natural persons from birth.
• Capacity to exercise rights (capacité d'exercice): may be limited for unemancipated minors (Art. 388) and protected adults (Art. 425+), subject to guardianship (sauvegarde de justice), curatorship (curatelle), or tutorship (tutelle).

Personal Rights

Personal rights are extra-patrimonial and include the right to privacy (Art. 9 C. civ.), right to one's image (case law), right to bodily integrity (Art. 16+), and the right to a name. They are inalienable, non-transferable, and imprescriptible.

Family Law

• Marriage (Art. 143 C. civ., since 2013 open to same-sex couples): requires free consent (Art. 146), minimum age of 18 (Art. 144), and no prohibited family ties.
• PACS (Art. 515-1): civil partnership contract with mutual aid obligations, easier dissolution than marriage, but fewer inheritance rights.
• Divorce (since 2004 reform): four types — mutual consent, accepted, irretrievable breakdown (1 year separation), and fault-based (Art. 242).