View source for Good faith

{{short description|Intention to be fair, open, and honest}}
{{redirect|Bona fide|other uses|Bona fide (disambiguation)|and|Good faith (disambiguation)}}
{{redirect|Assume good faith|the Wikipedia editing guideline|Wikipedia:Assume good faith|selfref=yes}}
{{Use British English Oxford spelling|date=October 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}

In [[human interaction]]s, '''good faith''' ({{langx|la|bona fidēs}}) is a sincere intention to be fair, open, and honest, regardless of the outcome of the interaction. Some Latin phrases have lost their literal meaning over centuries, but that is not the case with {{lang|la|bona fides}}, which is still widely used and interchangeable with its generally accepted modern-day [[English language|English]] translation of ''good faith''.<ref>{{cite web|last=Garger|first=John|title=How to Translate the Latin Legal Phrases Arguendo and Bona Fide into English|website=Bright Hub Education|date=5 January 2012|access-date=6 February 2015|url=https://www.brighthubeducation.com/learning-translating-latin/42398-translating-latin-legal-phrases-arguendo-and-bona-fide/}}</ref> It is an important concept [[Good faith (law)|within law]] and business. The opposed concepts are [[bad faith]], {{lang|la|mala fides}} (duplicity) and [[perfidy]] (pretense).

=={{lang|la|Bona fides}}==
{{further|Mos maiorum}}
[[File:LMW Dupondius RIC 1210 Rückseite Bildarchiv 79628.jpg|thumb|[[Reverse (coin)|Reverse]] of a [[dupondius]] issued under the emperor [[Vespasian]] depicting Fides Publica, the [[public trust]], holding a ''[[patera]]'' as a symbol of religious fidelity and a [[cornucopia]]]]
{{Lang|la|Bona fides}} is a Latin phrase meaning "good faith". Its [[Ablative (Latin)|ablative case]] is {{Lang|la|bona fide}}, meaning "in good faith", which is often used in English as an adjective to mean "genuine". While {{Lang|la|fides}} may be translated as "faith", it embraces a range of meanings within a core concept of "reliability", in the sense of a trust between two parties for the potentiality of a relationship. For the [[ancient Rome|ancient Romans]], ''bona fides'' was to be assumed by both sides, with implied responsibilities and both legal and religious consequences if broken.<ref>{{cite web|last=Adams |first=John P.|title=The Roman Concept of Fides |website= sun.edu|date= May 2009|url=https://www.csun.edu/~hcfll004/fides.html}}</ref> According to [[Roman law]], "''bona fides'' requires that what has been agreed upon be done" and was the principle of acting with integrity.<ref>{{cite book|last=Berger |first=Adolf|title=Encyclopedic Dictionary of Roman Law| publisher = American Philological Society
|date= 1953|edition =1991|page=374, citing ''[[Digest (Roman law)|Digest]]'' 19.2.21}}</ref> [[Fides (deity)|Fides]] was one of the original virtues to be considered a divinity in [[Religion in ancient Rome|ancient Roman religion]]. 

In contemporary English, {{Lang|la|bona fides}} is synonymous with [[credential]]s and [[identity document|identity]]. The phrase is sometimes used in job advertisements, and should not be confused with the [[#Employment efforts|''bona fide'' occupational qualifications]] or the employer's good faith effort, as described below.

==Law==
{{main|Good faith (law)}}
In [[law]], {{Lang|la|bona fides}} denotes the [[:wikt:mental state|mental]] and [[morality|moral]] states of honesty and [[belief|conviction]] regarding either the [[truth]] or the [[Deception|falsity]] of a [[proposition]], or of a body of [[opinion]]; likewise regarding either the rectitude or the depravity of a line of [[Action (philosophy)|conduct]]. As a legal concept, {{Lang|la|bona fides}} is especially important in matters of [[Equity (law)|equity]].<ref>{{multiref2
|1={{cite web|access-date=2008-03-03|url=https://dictionary.law.com/Default.aspx?selected=819&bold=|title=good faith |publisher=Law.com }}
|2={{cite web|url=https://www.trans-lex.org/901000/_/good-faith-and-fair-dealing-in-international-trade/|title=Good faith and fair dealing in international trade|website=Trans-Lex.org}}
}}</ref> The concept of {{lang|la|bona fide}} is also proclaimed by the original version of ''[[Magna Carta]]''.<ref>''[[Magna Carta]]'' (1215), Clause I</ref> In contract law, the implied covenant of good faith is a general presumption that the parties to a contract will deal with each other honestly and fairly, so as not to destroy the right of the other party or parties to receive the benefits of the contract. In insurance law, the insurer's breach of the implied covenant may give rise to a legal liability known as [[insurance bad faith]].

Most U.S. jurisdictions view breaches of implied covenants of good faith and fair dealing solely as variants of breach of [[contract]]. Linguistically, in the U.S., [[American English]] usage of {{Lang|la|bona fides}} is synonymous with [[credential]]s, professional background, and documents attesting a person's [[identity document|identity]], which is not synonymous with [[bona fide occupational qualifications|''bona fide'' occupational qualifications]]. More recently, other [[common law]] countries have begun to adopt good faith as a general principle. In the U.K., the High Court in ''[[Yam Seng Pte Ltd v International Trade Corp Ltd]]''<ref>{{cite BAILII |litigants=Yam Seng PTE Ltd v International Trade Corporation Ltd |link=Yam Seng Pte Ltd v International Trade Corp Ltd |court=EWHC |division=QB |year=2013 |num=111 |para= |parallelcite=[2013] 1 CLC 662, [2013] BLR 147, [2013] 1 All ER (Comm) 1321, [2013] 1 Lloyd's Rep 526, 146 Con LR 39 |date=1 February 2013 |courtname=auto}}</ref> expressed this preference. In Canada, the [[Supreme Court of Canada|Supreme Court]] declared in ''[[Bhasin v. Hrynew|Bhasin v Hrynew]]'' that good faith was a general organizing principle.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/14438/index.do |title=2014 SCC 71: Bhasin v. Hrynew|year=2014|website=Supreme Court of Canada}}</ref>

==Employment qualification==
{{clarify section|reason=it seems a jumble of several things without some thread to tie them together|date=July 2023}}
[[Bona fide occupational qualifications|''Bona fide'' occupational qualifications]] (employer's good faith effort) are qualities or attributes that employers are allowed to consider when making decisions on the hiring and retaining of employees. An employer's good faith effort is used as an evaluation tool by the jurisdiction during the annual program review process to determine an employer's level of commitment to the reduction goals of the Washington State's Commute Trip Reduction Law. [[Federal government of the United States|United States federal]] and [[State governments of the United States|state government]]s are required by [[Affirmative action#United States|affirmative action]] (and other such laws) to look for disabled, minority, female, and veteran business enterprises when bidding public jobs.{{relevance inline|reason=no mention of how "good faith" fits into that|date=July 2023}} Good faith effort law varies from state to state and even within states depending on the awarding department of the government. Most good faith effort requires advertising in state certified publications, usually a trade and a focus publication. Other countries such as Canada have similar programs.

==In wikis==
Public [[wiki]]s depend on their editors acting in good faith. [[Wikipedia]]'s principle ''Assume Good Faith'' (often abbreviated AGF) has been a stated guideline since 2005.<ref>"[https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Assume_good_faith&oldid=14428829 Wikipedia:Assume good faith]" Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 13 May 2005, 20:361 UTC.</ref> It has been described as "the first principle in the Wikipedia etiquette".<ref>{{cite journal|last=Goldspink|first=Chris|date=December 2007|url= https://www.researchgate.net/publication/30930355|title=Normative self-regulation in the emergence of global network institutions: The Case of Wikipedia|journal=Proceedings of the 13th ANZSYS Conference|location=Auckland, New Zealand}} 2–5 December 2007; Systemic Development: Local Solutions in a Global Environment</ref> According to one study of users' motives for contributing to Wikipedia, "while participants have both individualistic and collaborative motives, collaborative ([[Altruism|altruistic]]) motives dominate."<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Wagner|first1=C.|last2=Prasarnphanich|first2=P.|year=2007|title=Innovating collaborative content creation: the role of altruism and wiki technology|journal=Proceedings of 40th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences|location=Hawaii}} 3–6 January 2007</ref>
{{Clear}}

==See also==
{{wikiquote}}
{{wiktionary|good faith|bona fide}}

* {{annotated link|[[Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees]]}}
* {{annotated link|[[Hanlon's razor]]}}
* {{annotated link|[[Honor system|Honour system]]}}
* {{annotated link|[[Kindness]]}}
* {{annotated link|[[List of Latin phrases]]}}
* {{annotated link|[[Make one's bones]]}}
* {{annotated link|[[Pacta sunt servanda]]}}
* {{annotated link|[[Uberrima fides]]}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{Virtues}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Legal doctrines and principles]]
[[Category:Contract law]]
[[Category:Equitable defenses]]
[[Category:Intention]]
[[Category:Latin philosophical phrases]]