üldosa

Üldosa, meaning General Part, is the foundational section of Estonia’s civil law, forming the general rules that apply to private-law relationships across different domains. It is part of the Civil Code (Tsiviilseadustiku üldosa ja eriosa) and provides the framework for how persons, legal acts, property, and obligations operate. The General Part underpins how rights arise, are transferred, limited, or extinguished, and how civil relationships are interpreted and enforced.

The General Part covers several broad areas. It regulates persons, including natural persons and legal entities, their legal capacity and the means by which they act through representation or authorization. It addresses acts in civil law—contracts and other transactions—and their validity, interpretation, and effects. It also covers legal facts and events that create, modify, or extinguish rights and obligations, whether through voluntary acts or by operation of law.

Key topics include property and things, rights in rem, acquisition and loss of rights, and the framework for obligations, including both contractual and non-contractual (delict) obligations, performance, breach, and remedies. The General Part also governs time-related aspects such as deadlines and prescription, as well as general principles guiding civil conduct, such as good faith and protection of legitimate expectations. Representation, authorization, and the general structure of civil liability are central to its scope.

In practice, Üldosa provides the common rules that apply to all areas of civil law and informs the interpretation and application of the Eriosa (Special Part), which handles domain-specific rules in contracts, property, family, and inheritance law.