French Civil Code

A simple livestock lease is a contract by which one gives to another livestock to keep, feed and care for, on condition that the lessee will profit from half the growth, and also bear half the loss.

The numerical, descriptive and estimated statement of the animals handed over, appearing in the lease, does not transfer ownership of them to the lessee. Its sole purpose is to serve as a basis for the settlement to be made on the day the contract comes to an end.

The lessee owes reasonable care to the preservation of the livestock.

He is liable for fortuitous event only when it was preceded by some fault on his part, without which the loss would not have occurred.

In the event of a dispute, the lessee is required to prove the fortuitous event, and the lessor is required to prove the fault he imputes to the lessee.

The taker who is discharged by the fortuitous event is still liable to account for the hides of the animals.

If the livestock perishes in its entirety through no fault of the lessee, the loss shall be for the lessor. If only part of it perishes, the loss shall be borne jointly, according to the price of the original valuation and that of the valuation at the expiry of the livestock.

It may not be stipulated: That the lessee shall bear the total loss of the livestock, though it happen by fortuitous event and through no fault of his. Or that he shall bear, in the loss, a greater share than in the profit. Or that the lessor will take, at the end of the lease, something more than the livestock he has provided. Any similar agreement is void. The lessee…