Good Faith

Good faith requires that what is agreed upon shall be done.

Bona fides exigit ut quod convenit fiat.

Source: Dig. 19, 2, 21; Dig. 19, 1, 50; Dig. 50, 8, 2, 13; Weisman, 5g; Weisman, 50c

The law demands performance of agreements honestly made; good faith is not merely an aspiration but a binding obligation.

Good faith does not permit the same thing to be demanded twice.

Bona fides non patitur ut bis idem exigatur.

Source: Dig. 50, 17, 57; 9 Co. 53; Broom, Max.; Weisman, 50a; Weisman, 50e

A party who has received satisfaction cannot in good faith demand it again; double recovery is repugnant to equity and conscience.

A possessor in good faith is liable only for that which has actually come to him.

Bona fide possessor, in id tantum quod ad se pervenerit, tenetur.

Source: 2 Inst. 285; Dig.; Weisman, 50f

He who holds property believing his title to be lawful is accountable only for the benefit he actually received, not for speculative or consequential gains.

A good-faith possessor makes the fruits he has gathered and consumed his own.

Bona fide possessor facit fructus perceptos et consumptos suos.

Source: Tray. Max. 57; Dig.; Weisman, 50b

Where a person holds property in genuine good faith, the profits and fruits he has consumed before notice of a superior title are his by right; the law protects innocent use.

Good faith must be observed.

Bona fides servanda est.

Source: Coolidge v. Brigham, 1 Mete. (Mass.) 547, 551; Dig.; Weisman, 50d

The principle of good faith pervades every department of law — contracts, property, procedure, and public office alike — and its violation is a ground for relief in all of them.