“Sacredness of contract” – a historic and fundamental source of continental civil law

Considerations on the fundamental civil law principle “contracts must be respected” are given. The well-known exceptions that have come to us under the influence of foreign doctrine threaten its stability. Tracing its development since the time of the extraordinary processes in the Roman Empire, the author writes about the main significance of this clause. In the legislation and judicial practice of medieval Europe, the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union, and the modern code, circumstances determined the different content of this principle. The article describes its meaning, constraints, and suggestions for its improvement. The principles of civil law contracts, laid down in the basis of the organization and development of contractual work, are analyzed, their effect over time is assessed with the disclosure of a positive potential for legal reality. An assessment of the concept of obligations dependence on the validity of the contract has been carried out, in which a fixed-term contract is terminated, and the obligations generated by it, but not fulfilled, continue (Article 425 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation), any other interruption of multilateral relations terminates the performance requirements.