That is not lawful which is:
1. Contrary to an express provision of law;
2. Contrary to the policy of express law, though not expressly prohibited; or,
3. Otherwise contrary to good morals.
Cal. Civ. Code § 1667
UNLAWFUL CONTRACTS
Applied in 72 court decisions — leading case San Diego Building Trades Council v. Garmon (1959)
Most recently applied in Epic Games, Inc. v. Apple, Inc. (April 2023)
Enacted 1872.
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Official source: California Legislative Information. Reproduced from public-domain California statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.