Law Based On The Principle Of Changed Circumstances

Principle of changed circumstances pemit the parties amend or annul the contract when the changed circumstances which happened without responsibility of the parties result in the contract performance turning to excessive hard or unnecessary and the original performance going on would cause remarkable unjustice to one party during the period of contract performance. The present Chinese contract law failed to stipulate principle of changed circumstances for some reasons. At the beginning of 2003, the draft of Chinese civil law promulgates the principle is paid attention again In this article, through studies of principle in two major legal systems and states of theoretical basis, legal requirement and effect of the principle of the contract frustration, analysis of the current status and application environment for the principle in China, the author expresses the necessity of establishing the principle in China's contract law. The article is divided into 4 parts: In the first part the article mainly uses compare and analytical method in studying the principle of changed circumstances, firstly it mainly introduces the doctrine in the main land legal system countries, then in the English America legal system countries, finally it analyses the difference between them. Part 2 analyzes the current status of the principle of changed circumstance in legislation, judiciary. In the process of making new Contract Law, fierce debate arose as to whether to stipulate the principle. In the draft Contract Law, there was such a provision concerning the principle. However, in the eve of the draft to be decided on, the Law Committee of the NPC suggested to cancel that provision so that the principle failed to appear in the Contract Law. Although China's new contract law has not incorporated the principle of changed circumstance, in the case in 1992 Wuhan Gas Company v.Chongqing Test Meter Factory, the Supreme Court made an official reply which has become the judiciary interpretation on application of the principle of changed circumstance. The majority of scholars also agree to stipulate the principle, while a few scholar objects and think that the principle of changed circumstance can be included in force major. And there are also scholars who suggest that Contract Law shall not provide a general principle can be used for individual case through judiciary interpretation or social provisions. The establishment of principle of changed circumstances can meet the need of construction of market economy and competition in the global market. And it is also the character of maturation of legislation in China. In the forth part the author express the necessity and possibility of establishing the principle in our fixture civil law. Meanwhile, its applicable conditions and the force of law are illustrated in detail here.