Court of Cassation Ruling on Significant Imbalance in Contracts

Extract

[...] It is under the guise of this article that it specifies the sanction of the significant imbalance (non-written). It adds the way in which the significant imbalance must be appreciated and its contours: it "does not relate to the main object of the contract nor to the adequacy of the price to the performance. These elements allow him to judge that "the lack of reciprocity of the resolutive clause ( . ) is justified by the nature of the obligations to which the respective parties are bound". [...]

[...] This method of interpretation is becoming increasingly rare although it remains essential. The consequence of this interpretation and the rejection of the application of the rule lspecial exceptions override general rules This is the submission of the lease contract concluded in this case to the special law that aims to apply the general law, the common law of contracts. Again, this solution is complex and seems to go against the principles of intelligibility of the law, clarity/precision of the law and the principle of legal security, among others. [...]

[...] Significant imbalance, the domain of Article 1171. Problematique related to the judgment rendered by the Commercial Chamber of the Court of Cassation on January : The question that arises in this case is as follows: In their implementation of Article 171 of the Civil Code relating to membership contracts, how did the judges assess the significant imbalance? In order to answer the present question, it will be necessary to study, in the first place, the extension of the scope of application of Article 1171 of the Civil Code before turning, in the second place, to the assessment of the significant imbalance by the supreme judges (II). [...]

[...] Finally, a principle is made to be opposed to exceptions and to evolve with judicial practice. [...]

[...] In addition, the commercial chamber took advantage of it to (re)draw the contours of the notion of significant imbalance and its sanctions. These clarifications were then largely expected and necessary in positive law. A necessary clarification In recent years, many solutions have been made regarding the articulation of texts and article 1171 of the Civil Code and its significant imbalance. For example, the decision made by the commercial chamber of the Court of Cassation on January (n°18-10.512) cited by the judges had highlighted the exclusion of the application of commercial rules related to restrictive competition practices to credit institutions but also to financing companies. [...]