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good faith
Good faith is the sincere conviction of a party that it is acting lawfully, without knowledge or suspicion of facts that would preclude such action.
In Dutch civil law, good faith refers to the subjective state of a legal subject acting without actual or constructive knowledge of circumstances that could affect the validity of its conduct. The concept occupies a central position in property law, the law of obligations and contract law.
The principle protects the interests of parties acting in good faith, for example in the acquisition of ownership or in the performance of contracts. At the same time, reliance on good faith may be rejected where the circumstances indicate that the party ought reasonably to have been aware of the relevant facts.
In practice, good faith is assessed by reference to all the circumstances of the case, such as the purchase of stolen property or the interpretation of contractual provisions.
“The purchaser was able to acquire the painting in good faith, as he neither knew nor had reason to know that it was stolen property.”
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