Concept in Definition ABC

It is said that someone acts in good faith when his purpose is to do good and, conversely, when someone has the intention of doing evil he is said to act in bad faith.

The concept at hand presents two closely related dimensions, one moral and another legal one. From the point of view of morality, good faith is a criterion for judging someone's behavior and from a legal perspective it is a fundamental principle of the right.

In the field of law

The whole of the legal system and the laws in general tries to veto dishonest conduct, such as not cheating or not defrauding. This implies that the law must start from a general principle: that people act with good will. In other words, it is assumed that others behave with good intentions. This idea is known as the principle of good faith and is directly related to morality.

There are two ways of understanding good faith, one objective and the other subjective. According to the first, people have a duty to act with honesty

and it is an objective duty aimed at protecting the human relations. Subjective good faith is based on belief individual and in the conviction that others act with a good intention.

Consequently, an act may be contrary to the law objectively, but whoever stars in it may have acted in good faith due to their ignorance of the law. This circumstance is important, since good faith can become a mitigating factor.

The principle of good faith is implicit in an employment contract

If there is an employment relationship between two people, it is embodied in an employment contract with a series of clauses on salary conditions, hours, duration of the contract, etc. Despite all the clauses that may exist, it is not possible to specify all the circumstances possibilities of an employment relationship and, consequently, it is necessary to start from the principle of good faith between the parts. In this way, if in a contract it were said that it is forbidden to bring dogs to work and someone decided to bring a cat, he would be acting against the principle of good and, therefore, bad faith.

In daily life

We could say that there is an unwritten law in human relationships: that conduct of individuals is based on good faith. In other words, as long as the contrary is not proven, others do not intend to cheat, steal or manipulate but, in principle, tell the truth.

Thus, if we think that others are acting in bad faith, the coexistence it would be very difficult or almost impossible.

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Themes in Good Faith