Difetti materiali della prestazione traslativa e riduzione del prezzo nel contratto di compravendita

In the light of the overwhelming literature concerning the seller’s liability for defects of goods, the present work investigates the remedy of the reduction of the price, focusing on the conditions for its application, on its nature, functioning and practical features. In spite of the occasional application in the Italian legal system, the importance of the remedy at stake is linked to its capacity of preserving the contract of sale and to the fact it is mentioned and disciplined under nearly every European and international legal instruments (i.e. Directive 1999/44/EC and UN Convention of 1980) regulating the defect of the contract itself. As a matter of fact, the Author underlines how the aforesaid sources display an innovative approach to the analysed institution, in that they aim at reducing the scope of application of the avoidance, and show a preference for the mechanism for consumer’s protection that preserve the contract, as like as the repair of the good or the proportional reduction of the price. The analysis at first focus on the historical progress of the remedy, starting with a brief examination of its roman origin in the ius honorarium, then paying attention on its development throughout the ius civile and the ius Iustinianeum, up to its subsequent dogmatic evolution. After such introduction - essential to understand the ratio of the institution - the research scrutinizes the Italian legislation in force, investigating the practical functioning of the reduction of the price in the framework of the warranty for defects under the Civil Code and of the discipline of the “defect of conformity”, the new instrument for consumers’ protection under d.lgs. 6th September 2005, no. 206. Eventually, the Author looks at the relationships between the reduction of the price and the other remedies available to the consumer, in particular the avoidance of the contract and the damages compensation.