Simple English definitions for legal terms
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Lesio enormis is a legal term from Roman and civil law that refers to the sale of something for less than half its real value. If this happens, the seller can cancel the sale, but the buyer can keep the item by paying the full value. This rule usually applies to land sales. It can also refer to a situation where one party in a contract receives twice the value of the other party's money or property. In this case, the injured party can seek compensation. Lesio enormis is a way to ensure that contracts are fair and not exploitative.
Definition: Lesio enormis is a legal term that refers to an excessive loss or abnormal loss of more than half. It was used in Roman and civil law to describe two situations:
For instance, if a person buys a house for $50,000, but its real value is $100,000, the seller can rescind the sale, and the buyer can keep the house by paying the full value of $100,000. Similarly, if a seller sells a property for $200,000, but its real value is $100,000, the purchaser may have suffered laesio enormis, and the seller may have to rescind the sale or pay the difference.
Lesio enormis was a rule established very late, and it became the means of testing the validity of contracts generally by their fairness. It is a principle embodied in the German Civil Code and the Swiss Code of Obligations. In modern courts, it invests judges with discretion not very likely to be abused, but sufficient to act as a deterrent to the grosser forms of economic exploitation.