Before entering fully into the meaning of the term legal fact, we are going to proceed to know the etymological origin of the two words that shape it:
-Firstly, it derives from Latin, exactly from "factum, factus", which emanates, in turn, from the verb "facere", which is synonymous with "do".
-Legal, secondly, we can also establish that it comes from Latin. In his case, from "iuridicus", which derives from the word "ius, iuris" and which is synonymous with "law".
A fact is an event, an event, a work or something that takes place. Legal, for its part, is that which conforms to the law: the set of norms that regulate and order human relations and that express an ideal of justice.
From these ideas, it is easy to understand what a legal fact is. It is an action that causes a legal effect (that is, a legal consequence).
A fact, in this framework, is an act performed by a human being that, once completed, can no longer cease to be. In the case of a legal fact, that act produces a specific legal effect. There is a rule that establishes that, before the production of the fact in question, a consequence arises at the legal level.
The effect of a legal fact may consist of the acquisition, modification or loss of a right. This consequence will depend on the legal system in which the event is framed. Legal facts are always objectively typified in the rules.
According to its characteristics, the legal fact can be human (it is done voluntarily) or natural (it is made involuntary). It can also be classified as negative or positive due to its content, or as simple or complex according to its composition.
The birth and death of a person, for example, are legal facts, just like the writing of a will or the signing of a contract. As can be seen, all these acts have a legal consequence, beyond the different peculiarities of each one.
Other clear examples of legal events are the birth of a person, a genocide, the promulgation of a law, a coup, a declaration of war…
Sometimes legal fact and legal act are often confused. However, the difference between them is very clear and concrete: while in the legal fact there is no human will, in the legal act there is. That is, this is an action with legal consequences by human will.
Likewise, it is interesting to know that sometimes both terms go hand in hand. A good example of this is that there are examples of legal facts that, in addition, are also legal acts. This would be the case, for example, the signing of a contract, the commission of a crime or the granting of what is known as matrimonial consent.
Legal acts, in addition, it is interesting to know that there are many types: unilateral, bilateral, formal, non-formal, positive, negative, family, patrimonial, caused, abstract of cause, free, onerous, last will…