A Research On The Principle Of The Changed Circumstances

At the end of 2008, a worldwide financial crisis broke out and soon swept the world economy. It resulted in great destruction, and raised our concerns about transaction security. The principle of the changed circumstances has been accepted by most countries as the substantive fair it pursues is consistent with the basic spirit of the civil law. However,there is no related provisions about this principle in our China's "Contract Law". On April 24, 2009, the Supreme Court issued a number of explanations about the application of "Contract Law of the People's Republic of China", in which the principle of the changed circumstances has been provided for. It has reopened the legislative progress of this principle. From this perspective,this article aims to discuss the necessity of stipulating the principle of the changed circumstances in the legislation as well as the related legislative suggestions.This paper is divided into four parts.The first part mainly introduces the origin of the principle of the changed circumstances and it's evolution.The second part is about the differences between this principle with some relevant legal concepts. This part tries to illustrate the necessity of establishing this principle through such comparison. The third part discusses the principle of the changed circumstances in terms of judicial practice,that is, the application and the results.It analysizes the conditions under which you can use the principle of the changed circumstances, as well as the specific legal consequences it brought about. In the last part, the writer tries to put forword some ideas about how to stipulate this principle in our civil law legislation, combining with relevant foreign legislative statute.