Resolution (Civil Law)

Resolution, ^* Civil law. The act by which a contract which existed and was good, is rendered null.

2. Resolution differs essentially from rescission. The former presupposes the contract to have been valid, and it is owing to a cause posterior to the agreement that the resolution takes place; while rescission, on the contrary, supposes that some vice or defect annulled the contract from the beginning. Resolution may be by consent of the parties or by the decision of a competent tribunal; rescission must always be by the judgment of a court. 7 Troplong, de la Vente, n. 689; 7 Toull. 551; Dall. Dict. h. t.

^* From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, 1856 Edition. Please see Bouvier's Legal Abbreviations & Abbreviated References for help with obscure nomenclature & references.