The article analyses the difference between a contract concluded under the
threat of coercion and a contract not concluded despite such a threat resulted
in a forced declaration of will.
The article analyses the difference between a contract concluded under the
threat of coercion and a contract not concluded despite such a threat resulted
in a forced declaration of will. In accordance with Article 15 of the Slovenian
Code of Obligations, a contract is concluded when parties agree upon its essential
substantive parts. The agreement on the essentials of the contract is
based on the declaration of intent which implies the existence of will to conclude
the contract. This presumption is rebutted in cases of void contracts. The
difference between virtual (as an example of void contract) and forced contract
lays in the existence or the absence of the causa of the contract. Illegal threat
via founded fear can influence only the declaration of will and not necessarily
the formation of will in which case it is not correct to treat such legal situations
as cases of a mistake of will but as cases where there is no basis for the rise of
a legally binding ground that would create legally binding obligations among
parties.
Key words: conclusion of contract, coercion, declaration of will, existance of
will to conclude a contract, void contract, causa, illegal threat, founded fear,
formation of will, mistake of will, virtual contract