Officiële Toelichting

Geldend

Documentgegevens:

Geldend vanaf 01-05-2011

Redactionele toelichting: De datum van inwerkingtreding is de datum van afkondiging.
Bronpublicatie:: 10-05-2011, Internet 2011, www.unidroit.org (uitgifte: 10-05-2011, kamerstukken/regelingnummer: -)
Inwerkingtreding: 01-05-2011
Bronpublicatie inwerkingtreding:: 10-05-2011, Internet 2011, www.unidroit.org (uitgifte: 10-05-2011, kamerstukken/regelingnummer: -)
Vakgebied(en): Internationaal privaatrecht / Algemeen
Verbintenissenrecht / Algemeen
Verbintenissenrecht / Overeenkomst

1. Binding character of the contract the general rule

The purpose of this Article is to make it clear that as a consequence of the general principle of the binding character of the contract (see Article 1.3) performance must be rendered as long as it is possible and regardless of the burden it may impose on the performing party. In other words, even if a party experiences heavy losses instead of the expected profits or the performance has become meaningless for that party the terms of the contract must nevertheless be respected.

Illustration

A, a forwarding agent, enters into a two-year shipping contract with

B, a carrier. Under the contract B is bound to ship certain goods from country X to country Y at a fixed rate, on a monthly basis throughout the two-year period. Two years later, alleging a substantial increase in the price of fuel in the aftermath of a political crisis in the region, B requests a five per cent increase in the rate. B is not entitled to such an increase because B bears the risk of its performance becoming more onerous.

2. Change in circumstances relevant only in exceptional cases

The principle of the binding character of the contract is not however an absolute one. When supervening circumstances are such that they lead to a fundamental alteration of the equilibrium of the contract, they create an exceptional situation referred to in the Principles as ‘hardship’ and dealt with in the following Articles of this Section.

The phenomenon of hardship has been acknowledged by various legal systems under the guise of other concepts such as frustration of purpose, Wegfall der Geschäftsgrundlage, imprévision, eccessiva onerosità sopravvenuta, etc. The term ‘hardship’ was chosen because it is widely known in international trade practice as confirmed by the inclusion in many international contracts of so-called ‘hardship clauses’.