The retention right - a real guarantee meant to ensure the fulfillment of a patrimonial obligation

Abstract

The retention right, to which the lawmaker has provided a special regulation, represents nowadays a form of real guarantee of patrimonial obligations. Unlike the other forms of guarantee of patrimonial obligations (personal, autonomous, or real) which are created under expressly stated conditions, the retention right provides the creditor with the power to claim justice for himself, namely to choose to keep a good that belongs to his debtor until he fulfills his obligation. The institution of retention rights was acknowledged by previous doctrine and jurisprudence before the new Civil Code; however it gave rise to a series of controversies given its legal nature; nowadays, it entails a general regulation, as it applies to all legal situations in which the patrimonial obligation is in close connection with the retained good and it does not result from fraud, illicit action or bad faith.