European Contract Law

This new edition of European Contract Law examines the contract rules of several different European jurisdictions, including the most important civilian systems and English common law, while attempting to articulate general principles which are common in all of them. While the first edition was limited to a comparative analysis of the rules on formation and validity of contracts, agency, third party beneficiaries, and assignment, the second edition now also includes contractual remedies and various updates and revisions of the first edition, especially in light of the recent changes to the French Code civil. Furthermore, the book comprises a wealth of translated extracts of legislation, cases, and academic literature, comprehensively covering all aspects of contract law. The book was originally published in German to considerable acclaim. This English edition has been translated by Gill Mertens, building on the work done by the translator of the first edition, Tony Weir. This edition will be invaluable to scholars and practitioners in Europe and beyond.

Towards a Theory of Imprévision in the EU?

European Review of Contract Law ◽

10.1515/ercl-2018-1021 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 14 (4) ◽

pp. 344-373

Author(s):

Mitja Kovac ◽

Cristina Poncibò

Keyword(s):

Comparative Analysis ◽

Conceptual Framework ◽

Contract Law ◽

Good Faith ◽

European Contract ◽

The Many ◽

The Eu ◽

European Contract Law ◽

Abstract The problem of excuse for non-performance of contracts caused by changed circumstances is, despite its long history in contract law scholarship, far from being resolved. This paper is based on the dialogue between two colleagues from different academic backgrounds and comparatively investigates German, French, Italian and English approaches and current developments in the field. First, the paper questions whether the doctrine of changed circumstances (or imprévision) remains a mere exception, or whether it is possible to argue that, by considering the latest developments, it may represent a model in European contract law. This issue has recently attracted the attention of the French legislature in its modernization of the Code Civil. Second, by examining the many different national doctrines, the paper aims to reconstruct and clarify, through comparative analysis performed, the conceptual framework of such a theory by discussing, in particular, issues of contract interpretation, presupposition, causation, good faith, fairness and solidarity.

Remedies of Seller: A Comparative Analysis of Ethiopian Civil Code Governing Sale of Goods in Light with CISG, UNIDROIT Principles and Principles of European Contract Law

SSRN Electronic Journal ◽

10.2139/ssrn.2918708 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Abiyot Mogos Dabela

Keyword(s):

Comparative Analysis ◽

Contract Law ◽

Civil Code ◽

European Contract ◽

Harmonisation of European Contract Law: Citizenship, Diversity and Effectiveness

Cambridge yearbook of European legal studies ◽

10.1017/s1528887000004511 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 7 ◽

pp. 81-99

Author(s):

Hugh Collins

Keyword(s):

European Commission ◽

Contract Law ◽

Frame Of Reference ◽

Legislative Process ◽

Private Law ◽

European Law ◽

European Contract ◽

Common Frame Of Reference ◽

European Contract Law ◽

Proposals from the European Commission to work towards greater harmonisation of contract law, and indeed private law more generally, have been described in terms that apparently distance these plans from the introduction of a code civil europa. Nevertheless, the programme for developing ‘non-sector-specific measures’ into a ‘common frame of reference’ constitutes in its fundamentals and aspirations the ambition to create a European law of contract. And the method for the construction of this code replicates the process devising the great European codes of the nineteenth century: a painstaking scholarly endeavour to find consistency and coherence in the divergent national private law systems, except that no legislative process is foreseen.

Harmonisation of European Contract Law: Citizenship, Diversity and Effectiveness

Cambridge yearbook of European legal studies ◽

10.5235/152888712802730846 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 7 ◽

pp. 81-99

Author(s):

Hugh Collins

Keyword(s):

European Commission ◽

Contract Law ◽

Frame Of Reference ◽

Legislative Process ◽

Private Law ◽

European Law ◽

European Contract ◽

Common Frame Of Reference ◽

European Contract Law ◽

The Legality of Doctrine of Frustration in the Realm of Covid-19 Pandemic

Sociological Jurisprudence Journal ◽

10.22225/scj.3.2.1900.84-90 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 3 (2) ◽

pp. 84-90

Author(s):

Sheela Jayabalan

Keyword(s):

Common Law ◽

Contract Law ◽

The Novel ◽

European Contract ◽

Force Majeure ◽

The Common ◽

Potential Impact ◽

Novel Coronavirus ◽

The outbreak of the novel coronavirus (“COVID-19-Outbreak”) has a potential impact in the performance of a contract. If a contract does not contain a force majeure clause, a contracting party may look to the common law doctrine of frustration to relieve it from its obligations. Unlike force majeure clauses which focuses on the parties' express intention on how to deal with supervening events, frustration is implied by law and thus would only be considered in the absence of an express force majeure clause. In Malaysia, the doctrine of frustration is codified in section 57(2) of the Contracts Act 1957. A doctrinal analogy of the doctrine of frustration and section 57 of the Contracts Act 1950 indicates a pandemic such as the covid-19 would not frustrate a contract. Force majeure clause should be used as a protective tool to prevent losses to the contracting parties or alternatively the Principles of European Contract Law and the Unidroit Principles that make provisions for hardship as well as force majeure should be implemented.

Comparative Contract Law

The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Law ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199296064.013.0029 ◽

2006 ◽

pp. 898-936 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

E. Allan Farnsworth

Keyword(s):

Common Law ◽

German Law ◽

Contract Law ◽

Legal Systems ◽

The European Union ◽

European Contract ◽

American Law ◽

The Common ◽

General Contract Law ◽

This article presents an overview of comparative contract law. It reveals a number of differences between civilian legal systems and the common law, and also between French and German law as two main exponents of the civil-law tradition and, to some extent, even between English and US-American law. The same is true of other major issues in the field of general contract law that have not been touched upon. But there is a gradual convergence. This convergence is due to developments in all of the four legal systems covered in this article: English, US-American, French, and German law. And it has enabled scholars from around the world to elaborate an international restatement of contract law (the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts) and scholars from all the member states of the European Union to formulate a restatement of European contract law (the Principles of European Contract Law).

An Overview of Good Faith as a Principle of Contractual Interpretation with Special References to the Albanian Law

European Scientific Journal ESJ ◽

10.19044/esj.2017.v13n25p288 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 13 (25) ◽

pp. 288

Author(s):

Gjin Gjoni ◽

Zhaklina Peto

Keyword(s):

Contract Law ◽

Good Faith ◽

Third Party ◽

European Contract ◽

Applicable Law ◽

Objective Sense ◽

Contractual Obligations ◽

Subjective View ◽

Good faith is one of the most discussed topics in the jurists' circle, seen as a key argument in European contract law. Though it is an accepted concept, there is no consensus regarding the role of good faith in modern civil contractual obligations. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the principle of good faith, shedding light on the concept and the description of this principle on Albanian legislation. Good faith is dealt with in its two meanings; subjective and objective, where in the objective sense of good faith is perceived as a method used to dress with moral contractual relations and to mitigate the inequalities that may result from the dogma of parties autonomy. While in the subjective view, good faith may refer to the situation in which a person acts with the confidence that he is acting in accordance with the applicable law or in a situation where a third party seeks protection. The aim of this paper is also to treat the principle of good faith under the optics of Albanian legal system. It is concluded that the doctrine in Albania is not very developed. It should be noted that there is no uniformity in jurisprudence and the debate if good faith can be excluded from the contract remains open.

La nueva perspectiva de la tutela del error en el moderno derecho de los contratos

Revista de Derecho de la UNED (RDUNED) ◽

10.5944/rduned.14.2014.13310 ◽

2014 ◽

pp. 863

Author(s):

Rocío Herrera Blanco

Keyword(s):

Comparative Study ◽

Common Law ◽

Civil Law ◽

Contract Law ◽

Civil Code ◽

European Contract ◽

Legal Effect ◽

The Common ◽

The Impact ◽

Premio de artículos jurídicos «GARCÍA GOYENA» (Curso 2013-2014). Primer accésit Todos los ordenamientos jurídicos europeos prevén normas relativas a la ineficacia de los contratos por vicios del consentimiento, sin embargo, existen entre ellos diferencias bastante significativas, especialmente cuando se comparan el Common Law y los derechos continentales. El presente estudio comparado parte del tratamiento de esta cuestión en la regulación española y se centra en las propuestas que el moderno Derecho de la contratación proporciona en materia de vicios del consentimiento, con particular atención a la figura del error, así como en el Derecho anglosajón, por su eventual influencia en la regulación de estos instrumentos. De manera muy amplia, podríamos decir que el Common Law enfatiza la seguridad de las transacciones, mientras que los sistemas del Civil Law, quizás todavía marcados por las huellas de las llamadas teorías voluntaristas, son más transigentes en permitir la ineficacia de los contratos por defectos del consentimiento. Partiendo de esta premisa, intentaremos evidenciar que las soluciones brindadas por el Derecho anglosajón y los diferentes instrumentos de unificación para la determinación de los efectos jurídicos del error son muy similares. Asimismo, en este trabajo se defiende la tesis de la obsolescencia del Código Civil español en esta materia, y la consecuente necesidad de adaptación del mismo a la actual realidad social, a través de un propósito de homogeneización del Derecho contractual europeo. Para ello, igualmente estudiaremos la Propuesta de modernización del Código civil en materia de obligaciones y contratos, cuya regulación del error, en particular, merece ser objeto de estudio y confrontación de ideas.The legal systems of all european countries provide rules regarding the inefficacy of contracts due to defects of consent, however, there are very significant differences between them, with the deepest differences when Common law and continental systems are contrasted. The present comparative study focuses on the proposals that the modern contract law (PECL, Unidroit Principles, DCFR, CESL) provides with regard to defects of consent and, particularly, to the doctrine of mistake, as well as the Common law for its eventual influence on the regulation of these projects. Very generally, we could say that Common Law emphasizes the security of transactions, while Civil law systems, perhaps still under the impact of the eroded voluntarist theories, are more generous in allowing the inefficacy of contracts due to defects consent. Given these premises, we will try to evidence that the solutions provided by the Common law and the different unifying instruments in order to determinate the legal effect of the defects of consent are very similar. Furthermore, this survey defends the thesis of obsolescence of the spanish Civil Code respecting defects of consent, and the ensuing need for adapting it to the current social reality through a purpose of homogenization of european contract law. Due to this fact, we will also study the Proposal for the modernization of the Civil Code on obligations and contracts, whose regulation of defects of consent, particularly, diserves to be analyzed.

Responsibility for dishonest negotiations: Comparative analysis

Medjunarodni problemi ◽

10.2298/medjp1201082m ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 64 (1) ◽

pp. 82-102

Author(s):

Samir Manic

Keyword(s):

Comparative Analysis ◽

Conceptual Framework ◽

Contract Law ◽

Great Role ◽

European Contract ◽

The Balkans ◽

Eu Countries ◽

Secondary Sources ◽

European Contract Law ◽

Court Practice

The author analyzes the regulation of institutes of responsibility for dishonest conducting of negotiations in normative acts of certain EU countries and the Balkans. He analyzes the rules of behavior of parties during negotiations established through the court practice and theory in Switzerland, Germany, France and Hungary. In the paper the regulations of the most significant secondary sources of Contract Law have also been included and they are as follows: the Principles of European Contract Law (PECL) and Common Conceptual Framework (DCFR). Because of the great role in the regulation of pre-contract relationships, the author has devoted considerable attention to the principle of scruple and honesty.