1、Faculte dEconomie Applique, Universite de Droit, dEconimie et des Sciences d Aix-Marseille,3 Avenue Robert Schuman, Aix-en-Provence 13628, FranceAccepted 20 August 20021. Introduction: which path will lead us to a better understanding of French contract law?Contracts are marvellous tools to help us
2、to live in a world of uncertainty. They allow us to project ourselves into an unknowable future, to invest. Lawyers who have inspired the French Civil law and contributed to its evolution, as well as most lawyers in the world, have clearly perceived the necessity to protect that institution. “The co
3、ntract is, as far as the individual is concerned, the best forecasting instrument generating legal security, and the favored path to freedom and responsibility that is necessary for the flourishing of human beings in a society.”1Contracts are far from miraculous tools, however. If they make life eas
4、ier, they do not necessarily make life easy. As the future unfolds, one or both contracting parties may be tempted, or compelled, to break his or her promise. But, the mere fact that the contract is running into difficulties does not force the law to do something!2 It is only when one of the parties
5、 does not perform that the law （the court, the legislation）, backed with coercive power, has to give an opinion, to decide the case. In order to do so some principles, or theories, are required to reach a judgment as to what is the best thing to do.The present study of the French contract law is bas
6、ed on the premise that, from a law and economics point of view, there exists basically two possible ways to address this concern: the first approach requires that whenever a problem arises, an assessment be made of all costs and benefits incurred by the parties. In other words, one must attempt to e
7、valuate in a sufficiently precise way the consequences of the court decisionor of the rule of law under considerationfor both parties as well as for third parties （including potential future contractors）. The lawthenand more precisely here, contract lawshould aim primarily at providing the right inc
8、entives to contracting parties, where by “right incentives” one means incentives to behave in such a way that the difference between social benefits and social costs be maximized. It will be argued below that French contract law sometimes follows this approach.The second possible attitude looks, app
9、arently, pretty much like the first. The guiding principle is again that the law should provide to members of the society the right incentives. But one must immediately add that the judgeor the legislator, or the expertis not in a position to evaluate and compare the social costs and benefits of alt
10、ernative rules of law. He or she just does not know enough. One does not know, for instance, all the effects of a rule that would allow one party to breach a contract, without the consent of the other party. Indeed, even if the victim of the breach is promised a fair compensation, allowing such a ru
11、le globally might have a negative effect on the very purpose of the institution, which is to reduce uncertainty. As a consequence, the law should adopt a goal less ambitious than the maximization of social well being. That goal could be “to protect contracts,” or, in other terms, to create a set of
12、incentives that lead individuals to feel confident that their legitimate expectations will be fulfilled.As pointed out, those two attitudes may appear the same, differing just in degree. The first one assumes more knowledge on the part of lawyers and legislators than the second. However, when it com
13、es to practical decision-making, differences turn out to be important, because the more knowledgeable you think you are, the stronger will be the incentive to regulate the contract, and the lower will be the respect for tradition and customs on which daily expectations are based.The two approaches o
14、utlined above are well known to economists. The first one is the so-called “mainstream” （Paretian） approach and underlines most of the existing economic analysis of law.3 The second one, stressing the problem of knowledge, is far less developed.4 We will call it the “safety-of-expectations approach,
15、” or the Austrian approach to law and economics, because it can be found primarily in thework of the Austrian school of economic thought, and especially in Hayeks studies.“The rationale,” says Hayek, “of securing to each individual a known range within which he can decide on his actions is to enable
16、 him to make the fullest use of his knowledge, especially of his concrete and often unique knowledge of the particular circumstances of time and place. The law tells him what facts he may count on and thereby extends the range within which he can predict the consequences of his actions. At the same
17、time it tells him what possible consequences of his actions he must take into account or what he will be held responsible for.”5The reason why these two approaches are mentioned at the outset is that, when one studies French contract law, it is difficult to reconcile all of it with a single approach
18、. True, the mainstream, neoclassical approach, based on the assumption that rules be chosen that maximize social wealth （or, at other times, that lead to a Pareto-efficient outcome）, can help us to understand an important part of that body of law. But, as will be shown, certain French doctrines cann
19、ot be reconciled with neither a Paretian approach, nor a wealth maximizing approach. In some instances, the lawseems to be more concerned with the safety of expectations.In the next two sections we will examine the main doctrines and rules of French contract law trying to identify those that are com
20、patible with both principles and those that are compatible with only one. If none of those sets are empty, it will mean that the French law of contract is not totally coherent; it cannot be brought under a unique unifying principle of explanation. The next natural questionwould then be whether Frenc
21、h lawismoving towards one principle and away from the other. However, this paper will not address this question.The paper is organized in two parts. Indeed, for reasons briefly mentioned above, it is important to underline in a first part the many things the law does in order to avoid breach of cont
22、ract: what can be done in order to save a contract when the parties are having difficulties performing, and what is forbidden? The second part deals directly with the breach of contract. It will be shown that French law differs in some important respects from other contract laws.2. Saving the contra
23、ct6We will study the various attempts to “save” the contract by looking first at the conditions for invalidity （Section 2.1）, then at the various possibilities left to the judge to interpret the terms of the contract （Section 2.2） and end with the study of the cases where the judge is authorized to
24、change the terms of the contract （Section 2.3）.2.1. Invalid contractsOne way to save the contract is to prove that there was no valid contract in the first place! Formation defenses as defined in the French law are roughly identical to those found in the contract laws of other countries. The main de
25、fenses are: incompetency （incapacit）, mistakes （erreur）, fraud （dol）, duress （violence）, absence of cause （reminding us of the doctrine of consideration in the bargaining theory）, failure to disclose information, lsion （a defense close to unconscionability）,7 or, may be more specific to French law,
26、a conflict between the private agreement and ordre public, i.e. public policy, or “law and order” （see art. 6 and 1134 of the French Civil Code, henceforth C.civ.）. In all these instances, an action may be taken for annulment of the contract, the judge being the only one entitled to invalidate a con
27、tract.But, what exactly is meant by invalidity in the French law? What are the consequences? The French law distinguishes between absolute invalidity （nullit absolue） and relative invalidity （nullit relative）. The first category includes all the contracts that are against what is called ordre public
28、 de direction, that is to say, contracts that violate a public policy judged to be beneficial to the society as a whole and not only to those individuals involved in that particular contract. For such contracts nothing can be done and complete nullity cannot be avoided. The second category is made o
29、f contracts that violate the ordre public de protection, that is, contracts in which one party does not respect a public policy designed to protect weaker parties. In those circumstances, the victim who the law is trying to protect may choose to let the contract stand after modifications to the cont
30、ract.8In both cases, however, the result is as if the contract had never existed, and retroactivity with restitution is the general principle: one is supposed to go back to the situation that prevailed before the contract was created: the status quo ante. Parties are relieved of their obligations, a
31、nd damages can no longer be awarded, but it is still possible to bring a tort law action.9From an economic point of view, most of the formation defenses mentioned have already been analyzed in various places, the bottom line being: any contract that is not voluntary must be considered as invalid. On
32、e can see however that, from a strictly Paretian point of view, it is not clear that all involuntary contractse.g. contracts relying on a mistakewill always be dominated by the situation prevailing before the contract. If one chooses the Hayekian, safety-of-expectations point of view, such a dilemma is less likely to occur to the extent that people expect transactions to be voluntary. Consequently, any involuntary transaction violates some “legitimate expectations.” Before leaving the topic of nullity, tw
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