Silence gives consent?

Silence as en expression of will in comparative law

Abstract

The pure silence does not express action. However, there is a well-known aphorism about the subject that sustains that “silence gives consent”. This popular provision states that there is in silence a form of tacit or implicit statement of intent. Nevertheless, it should be investigated whether this assertion is supported within the law. This paper purposes to make a brief comparative study of the valuation of silence as a statement of intent in the legal systems of Brazil and Argentina. For this, the laws of the respective countries are analyzed, as well as their doctrinal and jurisprudential constructions. Thus, it is presented a research on the legal treatment of the subject, showing their similarities and distinctions, in order to provide a systemic view on the matter in Comparative Law.