On The Principle Of Changing The Situation In International Commercial Law

As an exception to the principle of Pacta Sunt Servanda, the principle of changedcircumstances is a fundamental one in the realm of contract law. Among theinternational commercial usages and national laws of major legal systems around theworld, the principle of changed circumstances is never strange. However, there havebeen controversies and disputes in China about the principle of changedcircumstances. Not until the Supreme Court formally rendered the judicialexplanation of the contractual law did the principle of changed circumstances getmuch more flesh and expand its sphere.Through analyzing the rules of different legal systems and international usages, withcase law being taken into account, this article pieced into the legal background andthe factual predicate of the principle of changed circumstances as well as thesimilarity and difference between the principle of changed circumstances and otherrelevant principles. Finally, with a study of the relevant rules of our motherland,especially the General Principles of the Civil Law, the Contract Law and the secondjudicial explanation of the Contract Law, this article analyses the difference andsimilarity between the principle in our country and its counterpart in internationalusages, and made some suggestions about the completion and the application of theprinciple.