Pre-emption Right vs. Good Faith Third-Party Purchaser

The dispute arose from a contract for the sale of an immovable property where the buyer was granted a right of pre-emption, and a subsequent sale occurred to a third party despite the contractual right; the original seller sued to enforce the pre-emption right, demanding the transfer of ownership to them, while the third-party purchaser argued they had acted in good faith, unaware of the pre-emption agreement. The Court of Cassation rejected the appeal, affirming that the contractual right of pre-emption, being a personal obligation between the contracting parties, could not generally be enforced against a third-party purchaser who acquired the property for value without knowledge of the prior agreement, unless the agreement was made public or the third party was aware of it, emphasizing that such an agreement does not create a real right enforceable against all.