client, or to materially alter an existing building or other immovable structure for a client. (IV.C–3:101)

Consumer

A “consumer” means any natural person who is acting primarily for purposes which are not related to his or her trade, business or profession. (I. – 1:106(1))

Consumer contract for sale

A “consumer contract for sale” is a contract for sale in which the seller is a business and the buyer is a consumer. (IV. A. – 1:204)

Contract

A “contract” is an agreement which is intended to give rise to a binding legal relationship or to have some other legal effect. It is a bilateral or multilateral juridical act. (II. – 1:101(1))

Contractual obligation

A “contractual obligation” is an obligation which arises from a contract, whether from an express term or an implied term or by operation of a rule of law imposing an obligation on a contracting party as such.

Contractual relationship

A “contractual relationship” is a legal relationship resulting from a contract.

Co-ownership

“Co-ownership”, when created under Book VIII, means that two or more co-owners own undivided shares in the whole and each coowner can dispose of that co-owner’s share by acting alone, unless otherwise provided by the parties. (Cf. VIII. – 1:203)

Corporeal

“Corporeal”, in relation to property, means having a physical existence in solid, liquid or gaseous form.

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Costs

“Costs” includes expenses.

Counter-performance

A “counter-performance” is a performance which is due in exchange for another performance.

Court

“Court” includes an arbitral tribunal.

Creditor

A “creditor” is a person who has a right to performance of an obligation, whether monetary or non-monetary, by another person, the debtor.

Damage

“Damage” means any type of detrimental effect.

Damages

“Damages” means a sum of money to which a person may be entitled, or which a person may be awarded by a court, as compensation for some specified type of damage.

Debtor

A “debtor” is a person who has an obligation, whether monetary or non-monetary, to another person, the creditor.

Default

“Default”, in relation to proprietary security, means any non-per- formance by the debtor of the obligation covered by the security; and any other event or set of circumstances agreed by the secured creditor and the security provider as entitling the secured creditor to have recourse to the security. (IX. – 1:201(5))

Defence

A “defence” to a claim is a legal objection or a factual argument, other than a mere denial of an element which the claimant has to prove which, if well-founded, defeats the claim in whole or in part.

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Delivery

“Delivery” to a person, for the purposes of any obligation to deliver goods, means transferring possession of the goods to that person or taking such steps to transfer possession as are required by the terms regulating the obligation. For the purposes of Book VIII (Acquisition and loss of ownership of goods) delivery of the goods takes place only when the transferor gives up and the transferee obtains possession of the goods: if the contract or other juridical act, court order or rule of law under which the transferee is entitled to the transfer of ownership involves carriage of the goods by a carrier or a series of carriers, delivery of the goods takes place when the transferor’s obligation to deliver is fulfilled and the carrier or the transferee obtains possession of the goods. (VIII. – 2:104)

Dependent personal security

A “dependent personal security” is an obligation by a security provider which is assumed in favour of a creditor in order to secure a present or future obligation of the debtor owed to the creditor and performance of which is due only if, and to the extent that, performance of the latter obligation is due. (IV. G. – 1:101(a))

Design, contract for

A contract for design is a contract under which one party, the designer, undertakes to design for another party, the client, an immovable structure which is to be constructed by or on behalf of the client or a movable or incorporeal thing or service which is to be constructed or performed by or on behalf of the client. (IV. C.- 6:101)

Direct physical control

Direct physical control is physical control which is exercised by the possessor personally or through a possession-agent exercising such control on behalf of the possessor (direct possession). (VIII. – 1:205)

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Discrimination

“Discrimination” means any conduct whereby, or situation where, on grounds such as sex or ethnic or racial origin, (a) one person is treated less favourably than another person is, has been or would be treated in a comparable situation; or (b) an apparently neutral provision, criterion or practice would place one group of persons at a particular disadvantage when compared to a different group of persons. (II. – 2:102(1))

Distribution contract

A “distribution contract” is a contract under which one party, the supplier, agrees to supply the other party, the distributor, with products on a continuing basis and the distributor agrees to purchase them, or to take and pay for them, and to supply them to others in the distributor’s name and on the distributor’s behalf. (IV. E. – 5:101(1))

Distributorship

A “distributorship” is the legal relationship arising from a distribution contract.

Divided obligation

An obligation owed by two or more debtors is a “divided obligation” when each debtor is bound to render only part of the performance and the creditor may require from each debtor only that debtor’s part. (III. – 4:102(2))

Divided right

A right to performance held by two or more creditors is a “divided right” when the debtor owes each creditor only that creditor’s share and each creditor may require performance only of that creditor’s share. (III. – 4:202(2))

Donation, contract for

A contract for the donation of goods is a contract under which one party, the donor, gratuitously undertakes to transfer the ownership of goods to another party, the donee, and does so with an intention to benefit the donee. (IV. H. – 1:101)

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