Reflections on the ‘Pacto Comisorio’: An Alternative View of its Nature and Scope

Abstract

From the text of article 1817 of Ecuador’s Civil Code, it follows that the pacto comisorio is a figure that only applies to the sales contract and, specifically, in the event of non-payment of the price. Although a large sector of the literature considers it appropriate to extend the effects of this figure to other bilateral contracts, this work intends to present an alternative view and proposes a textual and more restrictive interpretation of the code. The pacto comisorio is a figure that limits the will of the contracting parties. Consequently, due to its restrictive nature, its effects should not be extended to hypotheses other than those explicitly prescribed by the Civil Code.