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Section 5:
Contract Law is one of the most important parts of Irish Law (in my eyes THE most important). So to say, everything that one does that goes beyond farming for his own needs has to be bound by contracts. The primary text on Early Irish Contract Law, Di Astud Chor, has been edited and translated lately by Neil McLeod and published in the Sidney Series for Celtic Studies 1, 1995.
Basically, it can be assumed that the most common legal act in early Irish society was the verbal contract or "cor be/l" (lit. putting of lips), often only referred to as "cor". Contracts were seen as the exchange of "fe/ich" (obligations). The parties involved in a contract were called "fe/chem". The obligation accepted by each contracting party is to render "folud" (consideration" to the other. The acceptance of this obligation in turn creates an entitlement ("dliged") to the counter-consideration ("frithfolud") promised by the other party (McLEOD 1995, 14).
Basic regulation in regard to a contract is that a person cannot make a contract independently for an amount greater than his honour-price. If he still wants to make such a contract he must get permission from his kin. Equally, witnesses and sureties can only secure contracts up to their honour price (or parts of contracts up to their honour-price) (KELLY 1988, 158).
For a formal contract there were certain legal requirements:
For a contract to become formal it was necessary to appoint some witnesses who were specifically charged to note and preserve in their memories the terms of the contract. The technical term for such a contractual witness was "roach", though usually the term for eye-witness, "fi/adu" is used in the lawtexts. In church law these witnesses were often replaced through written evidence.
Each party in a contract usually had to bring a surety for their part of the deal. The sureties fulfilled the role of enforcers of the contract, in two ways. First, sureties usually were of higher social standing than the contracting party, so they were more vulnerable to disgrace if the contract wasn't fulfilled by the party they secured. Second, they were in a better position to ensure teh adherence to the contract than the other party to it. Usually the surety was a superior to the person making a contract, be it the father for his son, the lord for his clients, the abbot for his monmastic subordinates.
There were three basic types of surety. The first is the "naidm" or "macc", the "enforcing surety", which promised his honour that the party that had invoked him as a surety would not default from the contract. If it still did, he had to distrain (see for distraint later) the defaulter and, in addition, was entitled to his honour-price from the defaulter. The second type of surety is the "ra/th", the "paying surety". The paying surety guaranteed that he would make good from his own resources the debts of his party, if it defaulted and the naidm failed to enforce payment. In such cases, however, the ra/th was also entitled to his honour-price and to recover, with interest, the amount he had paid to satisfy the claims of the creditor. (McLEOD 1995, 17). The third type of surety was the "aitire", the "hostage-surety", who was most probably invoked in cases where the status of involved persons was so high that enforcing them would have shown as problematic or in cases where contracts were made to avoid blood-feuds, and in case of sick-maintenance. If in this case the party of the hostage surety defaulted, he had to submit himself to the agrreviated party. The defaulter then had 10 days to ransom the hostage, after which the liberty and life of the hostage were forfeit. The hostage could redeem himself with paying the corp-dire (Body-price) for a human body in Irish Law (7 cumals), which he of course then was entitled to recover from the defaulter, who remained liable to the contract as well.
Contracts without a naidm and a ra/th were generally considered unenforceable.
However, in case that somebody invoked "the men of heaven and the gospel of christ", i.e. gives an spiritual oath, the contract is also valid.
There were certain formulae with which contracts were made, and probably a handshake was also part of the binding of a contract.
However, the contracting parties had a certain period in which they could cancel the contract. This time is the until the sunset on the day the contract was made (and later seems to have been extended on a 24-hour period). Once this time has elapsed the contract becomes binding unless it has some defect capable of grounding rescission.
There are some situations which make a contract invalid. Under these fall for instance contracts made under duress, in fear, or drunken (in the last case however this doesn`t apply to co-ploughing agreements, which are fully vaild even when made while drunk). Also the earlier contracts take precedence over later ones.
If a contract contains a fault which could not be reasonably detected by the disadvantaged party, the contract can be rescinded or adjusted.
Also certain people cannot make independent contracts of their own, like minors, lunatics, slaves, captives or aliens, so any contract with them is invalid.
Additionally, in close social relationships, e.g. husband-wife, father-(grown-up)son, abbot-monk, some additional regulations and limitations exist on the ability of a person to make legal contracts. Basically in those cases, the superior can cancel out almost any contract of his inferior (i.e. the father of his son, husband of wife , ...), while the inferior can only cancel out such contracts of his superior that could be detrimental to itself (so if the father wants to sell all his land, the son can object, as this will diminish his social status upon inheriting, as we already know that Social Status depends in part on the land posessed).
An important part in contract procedure is fulfilled by pledges ("gell"). A pledge is an object of value delivered by its owner for a fixed period into the custody of another (KELLY 1988, 164). Basically, a pledge shows the willingness of a person to meet the other's claim in a certain amount of time, or to submit the case to arbitration where it is disputed. Usually, the pledge is an object closely associated with the life of the one who gives it, so a champion would pledge his weapon, a farmer one of his tools, a noble a precious brooch and similar. Only a kink, a church dignitary or a lord may pledge objects of gold.
Pledges may already be given before any offence has taken place. E.g. it was expected from neighbouring farmers to exchange fore-pledges ("tairgille") to show their willingness to at least submit cases of injury of animals and especially animal trespass (explained later) to arbitration.
As well as giving pledges on ones own behalf, a person may give a pledge on behalf of another. In this case, he is entitled to receive an interest ("fuillem") as long as the intem is out of his possession. In case the pledged item becomes forfeit, the interest is increased and a heavy compensation has to be paid to the former owner.
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