The Study Of The Rule Of Predictability In Chinese Contract Law

Though being an important means to specify the range of compensation for breach of contract, the Rule of Predictability is not thoroughly studied in China as it has been introduced into our country and applied in the field of Contract Law. After investigating the historical connotation of the Rule by reviewing its formation, the present state of legislation and its base of jurisdiction, this article analyzes the Rule of Predictability in China's Contract Law with respect of the components, the application conditions, the relative laws and the system environment, and points out the inadequate application of the Rule in lawmaking.To further implement the Rule of Predictability, the author considers the breaching party's subjective intention whether it is at fault as another criterion for the approaching the fair compensation range. As it is difficult to identify the fault in jurisdiction practice, distribution of the onus probandi is used to urge and encourage the breaching party to provide evidence. What's more, in order to maximize the Rule of Predictability's functions like fair distribution, or balancing each side's benefit, the author assigns the information revealing responsibility on special issues to the observant party, which makes it another supplementary device in fairly defining the compensation range and in facilitating jurisdiction operation.