364 / 432
R. EMERJ, Rio de Janeiro, v. 20, n. 79, p. 348 - 376, Maio/Agosto 2017
364
of the contract.”
77
Furthermore, the same provision stresses that the third
party renders “the right . . . enforceable” by telling the parties at any
moment that he intends “to exercise that right.”
78
Finally, Article 1461,
captioned “Enforceability of the Promisor’s Compliance,” reiterates that
“the right to demand the promisor’s compliance with the obligation . . .
belongs to the third-party beneficiary once he has made the declaration
referred to in Article 1458. . . .”
79
“Since the law does not specify the
matter,” Torres Vásquez elucidates, “the acceptance of the benefit may take
place either expressly or tacitly. . . .”
80
Significantly, Article 1354, which equally appears in the section on
“Contracts in General” as one of the “General Provisions,” announces that:
“The parties may freely determine the contract’s content, so long as it does
not run counter to a mandatory legal norm.”
81
Explicitly denominated a
“contract” in its codified definition,
82
a third-party agreement falls squarely
under Article 1354,
83
as well as under the previously analyzed precepts on
contractual exegesis. Therefore, individuals may set up such a scheme and
structure it, to a large extent, as they wish.
77
C
d
. C
iv
.
(Peru) (1984), art. 1458 (“El derecho del tercero surge directa e inmediatamente de la celebración del con-
trato.”).
See
Torres Vásquez,
supra
note 57, at 16 (“El Derecho del tercero surge directamente del contrato, sin necesidad
que preste su aceptación.”) (“The third party’s right derives directly from the contract, independently of his acceptance.”).
See also id
. at 46, 50, 50-51, 60.
78
C
d
. C
iv
.
(Peru) (1984), art. 1458 (“Empero, será necesario que el tercero haga conocer al estipulante y al promitente
su voluntad de hacer uso de ese derecho, para que sea exigible, operando esta declaración retroactivamente.”).
See
Torres
Vásquez,
supra
note 57, at 43 (“Una vez que el tercero hace conocer al estipulante y al promitente su voluntad de hacer uso
del derecho establecido en su favor (art. 1458), tiene a su disposición todos los medios compulsivos que corresponden al
acreedor contra el deudor (art. 1219).”) (“Once the third party informs the promisee and the promissor that he intends to
exercise the right established in his favor (art. 1458), he has at his disposal all of the creditor’s means of coercion against
the debtor (art. 1219).”);
id
. at 16 (“Pero para que este derecho sea exigible, sí es necesario que [el tercero] haga conocer a
los contratantes su aceptación de aprovechar la estipulación en su favor.”) (“Nonetheless, the enforceability of the right
necessitates that [the third party] inform the contracting parties of his acceptance of the agreement in his favor.”) .
See
also id
. at 49, 50, 55.
79
C
d
. C
iv
.
(Peru) (1984), art. 1461 (“Exigibilidad de cumplimiento al promitente: El . . . derecho a exigir el cumplimiento
de la obligación por el promitente . . . corresponde al tercero beneficiario una vez que haya efectuado la declaración a que
se refiere el artículo 1458. . . .”).
80 Torres Vásquez,
supra
note 57, at 44-45 (“Al no existir forma preestablecida por la ley, la aceptación del beneficio puede
hacerse en forma expresa o tácita (art. 141). . . .”).
81
C
d
. C
iv
.
(Peru) (1984), 1354 (“Las partes pueden determinar libremente el contenido del contrato, siempre que no sea
contrario a norma legal de carácter imperativo.”).
82
See
C
d
. C
iv
.
(Peru) (1984), art. 1457 (“contrato”).
See also
Torres Vásquez,
supra
note 57, at 36 (“
Es un contrato
. Con la fig-
ura del contrato a favor de tercero se hace referencia al tipo de contrato con el cual se crea un beneficio o favor económico
para terceros.”) (
It is a contract
. Third-party contracts produce an economic benefit or advantage for a third party.”).
83
See
Torres Vásquez,
supra
note 57, at 37, 41 (“En el Derecho peruano no hay nada que prohíba [el contrato a favor de
tercero], puesto que las partes son libres de determinar el contenido del contrato, siempre que no sea contrario a normas
imperativas (art. 1354), al orden público y a las buenas costumbres.”) (“Nothing in Peruvian law prohibits third-party con-
tracts, inasmuch as the parties may freely define the contract’s content, as long as it does not run counter to a mandatory
legal norm (Art. 1354), the public order, or good morals.”).