Simulation: An Institution with a Past and a Future

Simulation was and still is a way to hide the real will of the parties. This mechanism can, in most cases, have an illicit purpose consisting of defrauding creditors or heirs or even tax evasion, but it can also have a noble purpose. This institution has been known since antiquity, embodying the Roman legal genius. Romanian private law evolved as the needs of society imposed changes, the Romanians being a very, thorough people in terms of analyzing the aspects brought up in practice, an analysis that led to the perfection of the legal system. In ancient Roman law, numerous cases of simulating a reality were distinguished, among which the claim action granted to peregrines, adoption, in iure cesio and fictitious actions will be mentioned. In the Roman province Dacia, there was also the fiction of ius italicum, and in the Romanian Countries the institution of simulation appears in the "Legal Manual" of Andronache Donici, a concept taken over and supplemented by the Callimachus Code. The present study includes two parts, the first in which simulation applications and the evolution of this institution over time are presented, and the second part in which simulation is analyzed from the point of view of contemporary legislation and the implications arising from the simulation of certain acts. Emphasis is also placed on doctrinal solutions, following the case study on the current situation and resulting conclusions. Among the qualitative legal scientific research methods used in this study are the logical method, the comparative method and the historical method.