Comparison Of The Expanded Contractual Obligations In The Principles Of The International Commercial Contracts

The Principles of International Commercial Contracts, formulated in 1994 and revised in 2004 (thereafter refers to as the Principles 2004), by International Institute for the Unification of Private Law is an advanced legal document of international commercial contracts. It draws experiences and lessons from the advanced ideologies of contract laws of many countries, absorbs the merits of some unification of legal documents of international commercial contracts, and it optimizes and combines the theories of contract laws of the Continental Legal System and the Anglo-American Legal System. Furthermore, there are many unprecedentedly innovative articles or stipulations in the Principles 2004. Accordingly, the study and research of the Principles 2004 is materially significant to the legislation of international commercial contract laws and the legislation of contract laws at home.Much attention being paid to by academia, the principle of good faith is, as the Supreme Article, a hot topic zealously discussed by academicians and scholars, since it is recognized widely by many countries in the world. But little research is undergone on the principle of good faith in the Principles 2004 and less attention is paid to the Principles of European Contract Law, by the academia in our country, which applies to the European Union only.In the fields of Contract Law, the obligations of the contract are not limited in the acceptability of the parties since the articles of good faith have been established as the basic principle. Except the obligations originated on the fundament of the acceptability of the parties, the obligations of the contract expand into a wide obligation group, on the basis of the principle of good faith, including pre-contractual obligations, concomitant obligations in performance and post-contractual obligations. The ultimate purpose to study this obligation group is to protect the legal rights of the contractual parties, to maintain the security of the social trade, the harmony and stability of the society better. On the foothold of the articles of good faith in the Principles 2004, by comparing these articles with the ones in some unification of legal documents of international commercial contracts like the United Nations Convention on the International Sale of Goods or the Principles of European Contract Law, and with the ones in the contract laws of our country and some other countries, this thesis tries to make a study of the expanded contractual obligations in the Principles 2004 and to find out their unique innovation, function and effect, for the purposes of establishing the foundation for the application of the articles and providing reference for further perfection of the contract law of our country.Structurally, there are four chapters mainly in this article. In the first chapter, Survey, the background and advantages of the Principle 2004, the source and importance of the principle of good faith, the status of the principle of good faith in the Principles 2004 and the relationship between the principle of good faith and the expanded contractual obligations are dealt with respectively in this chapter. The duty of confidentiality and negotiations in bad faith in pro-contractual obligations are introduced in the second chapter. The third chapter is about implied obligations and duty of cooperation which arc concomitant obligations in performance. Two important post-contractual obligations arc introduced in the fourth chapter, including duty of notice and duty of aggrieved party to mitigate harm. Except theoretical expounding, instance illustrations are made too in the last three chapters. Furthermore, the expanded contractual obligations are compared with the ones in the the Principles of European Contract Law and the Contract Law of our country in order to find out the advantages and disadvantages in them, making a foundation for learning and application of international commercial contract law and providing reference for the further perfection of the Contract Law in our country.