What question did this study set out to answer?

This work investigates the doctrine of lesion as it relates to economic imbalance in contracts under Moroccan law.

June 17, 2026Open Access

Lesion in the Dahir of Obligations and Contracts

Key Points

This work investigates the doctrine of lesion as it relates to economic imbalance in contracts under Moroccan law.
Analysis of the Moroccan Code of Obligations and Contracts (DOC) regarding lesion.
Examination of jurisprudence and its interaction with the concept of lesion.
Exploration of historical contexts affecting the invocation of lesion in contracts.
Identified a significant absence of definitions for lesion in the Moroccan DOC.
Showed that lesion has been infrequently addressed in jurisprudence, reflecting systemic deficiencies.
Argued for a critical reassessment of lesion within the context of Moroccan contract law.

Abstract

Azzedine Kettani examines the doctrine of lesion (laesio)—gross economic imbalance in a contract—within the Moroccan DOC. He notes that the DOC provides no definition of lesion, nor do other codes. Rather than merely measuring the "wrinkles" of this aging code, Kettani seeks to explore a part of the DOC that has remained intact not because of its robust constitution, but because it has rarely been invoked. Some might argue the DOC was born handicapped, and jurisprudence has failed to improve its deficiencies regarding lesion. Kettani acknowledges he may not be entirely praiseful toward the code or Moroccan jurisprudence, which has only occasionally ruled on this question, making lesion a rarely tested institution in Moroccan contract law.

Bookmark

View Full Paper