El contrato o estipulación a favor de tercero a la luz del Derecho comparado y del moderno Derecho de contratos

Abstract

The contract or stipulation for the benefit of third parties is a figure that is enshrined in most national legal systems and that has also been subject to regulation by the modern law of contracts´ texts. Imposed by the needs of traffic, it is contemplated by the succinct article 1257 of the Spanish Civil code. However, since it lacks an elaborate and detailed structure, this legal figure is amenable to ambiguity and the solution to its problems has come by the hand of the Spanish scholars and jurisprudence, although not always in a unanimous fashion. Thus, there is a need for a better and more detailed regulation of the stipulation for the benefit of third parties in order to provide a definitive legal certainty to the matter. In the light of a potential future course of action regulating this legal structure in our legal system, an understanding of common traits of its present regulation is paramount. The paper aims to unravel those common traits in the national legal systems of our immediate sphere and in the texts of the modern law of contracts.