The place and meaning of unnamed contracts in law

Abstract

Contract law is one of the key branches of private law. In addition to the named contracts, which are most frequently used and are type-regulated in several legal regulations, a category of so-called unnamed contracts emerged, which directly responds to economic and business developments in society. The principle of dispositional autonomy was already known in ancient Roman law, having been present in various forms throughout all historical stages of contract law. At present, we are still encountering the institute of unnamed contracts, which is mainly due to the state of private law in the Slovak Republic, which for years has been calling in vain for its recodification. Many modern contractual obligations to which the current legislation does not yet respond (e.g., leasing contract, sponsorship contract, etc.) thus rely on the use of legal analogy and especially on the creativity of the parties, which elevated several customary (unnamed) contractual relationships to standardized legal departments.