Aujourd’hui, il n’est pas rare qu’une personne se trouve en position de faiblesse lorsqu’elle contracte. Une entreprise en situation de dépendance économique, un consommateur face à un professionnel, l’utilisation de plus en plus fréquente de contrats d’adhésion, sont autant de facteurs pouvant conduire à la vulnérabilité d’un contractant. Le risque est alors que la partie dite « forte » abuse de sa position pour pousser l’autre à s’engager dans une convention fortement déséquilibrée, profitant essentiellement à l’auteur de l’abus. Ce type blâmable de comportement se manifestant lors de la formation des contrats, la partie lésée devrait pouvoir trouver une protection à travers la théorie des vices du consentement. Toutefois, cette théorie se révèle aujourd’hui inadaptée pour protéger efficacement les contractants victimes d’abus. Ce constat s’explique principalement par le fait qu’elle est restée inchangée depuis 1804. Basée sur une conception individualiste du contrat, les conditions d’admission propres à chaque vice, que sont l’erreur, la violence et le dol, sont trop restrictives. Or, les inégalités contractuelles étant à ce jour plus prononcées, elles entraînent nécessairement davantage d’abus, c’est pourquoi il convient de restaurer une telle théorie pour protéger comme il se doit les contractants. C’est à travers la notion de dol que nous proposons de le faire. Ce choix n’est pas le fruit du hasard. Il se justifie par le fait que le dol est un délit civil, avant même d’être un vice du consentement. Plus précisément, il est la manifestation de la déloyauté précontractuelle. Le consacrer comme un fait altérant la volonté engendre alors deux effets négatifs. Le premier tient au fait qu’il apparaît, en droit positif, comme une notion complexe, source de contradictions. Le second consiste à ne pouvoir réprimer la malhonnêteté perpétrée lors de la formation des contrats que de manière imparfaite et ce, en raison du champ d’application trop restreint du dol, celui-ci étant cantonné à une erreur provoquée. En lui redonnant sa véritable nature, celle de délit civil viciant le contrat, id est d’atteinte à la bonne foi précontractuelle, on remédierait à ces deux imperfections. / Professional, or the increasing use of adhesion contracts (“take it or leave it agreements”), all are factors that can lead to the contractor’s vulnerability. The risk is, for the so-called “strong” party, to abuse its position in order to force the other party into a strongly unbalanced agreement, mainly in its own benefit. Since such a reprehensible behavior occurs during the contract formation, the weakened party should be able to find protection through the use of the defects of consent theory. However, this theory has proven inadequate to effectively protect abused contractors today. A major explanation is due to the fact that this theory remains unchanged since 1804. Based on an individualistic conception of the contract, conditions of admission of each defects of consent, such as error, abuse and fraud, are too restrictive. However, the more contractual inequalities exist, the more they will turn into abuse. Therefore, this is why such a theory should be restored in order to protect contractors. It is through the notion of “dol” (willful misrepresentation or fraudulent concealment) that we propose to do so. This choice is not a coincidence. It is justified by the fact that “dol” is a tort, even before being a defect of consent. Specifically, it is the manifestation of pre-contractual disloyalty. Its recognition as a fact altering willpower will generate two negative effects. The first is linked to the fact that “dol” appears to be a complex notion and a source of contradiction in substantive law. The second is not permitting to properly penalize the dishonesty perpetrated during the contract formation due to a too narrow scope of the “dol”, the latter being understood as an induced error. Giving it back its real nature of a civil tort defecting the contract and undermining the pre-contractual good faith, our work aims at finding a remedy to these two shortcomings.

The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate the application of the common law rule prohibiting unilateral price determination in contracts of sale governed by the Consumer Protection Act. The unilateral determination of price has been a controversial issue for an extended period of time. This controversy is traced back to Roman law where different translations and interpretations are given to the texts dealing with the unilateral determination of price in a contract of sale. The majority of the Roman-Dutch writers preferred the view that regarded a contract granting a discretion to one of the parties to determine the price as void. Subsequently, this view was incorporated into South African law. During the 1990s the Supreme Court of Appeal questioned whether the rule should still form part of South African law. An overview of the case law indicates that the courts have been prepared to allow contractual price discretions provided such discretions refer to an objective external standard or reasonableness. There are also indications that the courts would imply that the discretion should be exercised reasonably, except in the case of clearly unfettered discretions. Recently, the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 ("the CPA") has made substantial amendments to the law of sale in respect of contracts governed by the CPA. The dissertation investigates the influence of the CPA on the rule governing unilateral price determinations in such sales. It also investigates the consumer's fundamental rights to disclosure of information and fair, just and reasonable terms and conditions. Legal uncertainties and issues arising from the provisions of the CPA are identified. Finally, a comparative study with English law is undertaken which provides a comparative basis from which possible solutions are extracted and proposals made to address the uncertainties and issues emanating from the CPA. Copyright / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Mercantile Law / unrestricted

El presente informe aborda sobre dos controversias judiciales tanto en el ámbito privado como en el público, sobre la materia de otorgamiento de escritura pública y reposición por despido laboral, respectivamente. El Expediente N° 1969-2016-0-0401-JR-CI-09, expediente privado, abarca sobre una demanda de otorgamiento de escritura pública de un contrato de promesa de compraventa de un local comercial ubicado en la ciudad de Arequipa. La controversia principal corresponde a si el contrato celebrado entre la compradora primigenia y los demandados se trataría de un contrato de promesa de compraventa o un contrato definitivo, y como consecuencia, si la transferencia realizada por dicha compradora primigenia a la demandante se trataría de una cesión de posición contractual o de una cesión de derechos. El Noveno Juzgado Especializado en lo Civil y la Segunda Sala Civil, emitieron sentencias contradictorias, estando de acuerdo respecto a que el contrato de promesa de compraventa se trataría de un contrato definitivo; sin embargo, discrepan respecto al segundo punto, toda vez que la primera de las mencionadas señala que la transferencia del inmueble materia de litis se habría realizado a través de una cesión de posición contractual y no a través de una cesión de derechos como señala la Segunda Sala Civil. Por otro lado, el Expediente N° 03489-2014-0-1801-JR-LA-08 abarca sobre una demanda de reposición laboral, toda vez que la demandante alude que la despidieron fraudulentamente por “haber participado en una pelea de agresión mutua verbal y física”, considerado falta grave establecida en el inciso f) del artículo 25 del D.S. N° 093-97-TR, en contra de una trabajadora de otra empresa, mientras se encontraba de vacaciones y en un lugar distinto al de su lugar de trabajo. En ese sentido, la controversia principal del mencionado expediente es determinar si el despido se encontraba realmente justificado o no. Al respecto, el Octavo Juzgado Especializado Permanente de Trabajo y la Cuarta Sala Laboral Permanente de Lima emitieron sentencias contradictorias, donde la primera de las mencionadas señala que no se ha acreditado objetivamente la falta grave imputada a la demandante por lo que corresponde la reposición laboral; a diferencia de lo señalado por la Cuarta Sala Laboral Permanente de Lima quien establece que si se produjo la mencionada falta grave. Finalmente, la demandante interpone recurso de casación, la misma que es declarada improcedente toda vez que pretende una nueva valoración de hechos ya analizados en la Sentencia de Vista. / This report deals with two legal disputes, both in the private and public scope, about granting of a Public Deed and replenishing for labor dismissal, respectively. File No. 1969-2016-0-0401-JR-CI-09, private file, is about a demand for the granting of a Public Deed of a sale promise contract of a commercial property located in the city of Arequipa. The main controversy corresponds to whether the contract between the original purchaser and the defendants was a sale promise contract or a definitive contract, and therefore, whether the transfer made by the original purchaser to the plaintiff was an assignment of contractual position or an assignment of rights. The Ninth Specialized Civil Court and the Second Civil Chamber issued contradictory judgments, both agreeing that the sale promise contract is a definitive contract; however, they differ about the second point, in which the first one indicates that the transfer of the property subject to litis would have been carried out through a transfer of contractual position and not through the assignment of rights, as indicated by the Second Civil Chamber. On the other hand, File N° 03489-2014-0-1801-JR-LA-08 is about a demand for replenishing for labor dismissal, in which the plaintiff argues that she was fraudulently fired for “having participated in a fight of mutual verbal and physical aggression”, considered a serious misconduct according with paragraph f) of article 25 of the Supreme Decree N° 093-97-TR, against a worker from another company while she was on vacation in place different than her workplace. In that sense, the main controversy of the mentioned file is to clarify whether the dismissal was really justified or not. In this regard, the Eighth Permanent Specialized Labor Court and the Fourth Permanent Labor Chamber of Lima issued contradictory judgments as well, in which the first indicated that the serious misconduct charged to the plaintiff has not been objectively proved and therefore it corresponds the replenishing; unlike what was indicated by the Fourth Permanent Labor Chamber of Lima which established that the serious misconduct aforementioned occurred. Finally, the plaintiff filed a cassation appeal which was declared inadmissible since it pretended a new analysis of facts which was already done in the judgment issued by the second instance court. / Trabajo de suficiencia profesional

[pt] A dissertação possui como objetivo principal estudar a cláusula MAC em sua aplicação no Brasil. A cláusula MAC é muito mais do que uma mera cláusula única e simples, sendo, na realidade, um mecanismo contratual, aparecendo de maneiras diversas ao longo do contrato e extremamente presente na realidade negocial internacional, sobretudo, em relações contratuais complexas como as operações de M(e)A, foco de análise desta dissertação. O grande objetivo da cláusula MAC é lidar com o eventual desequilíbrio superveniente ou da alteração das circunstâncias nas operações de M(e)A. É uma cláusula que, além de ser bastante discutida contratual e judicialmente no exterior, é de origem estrangeira (anglo-saxã), reforçando, portanto, a necessidade de se fazer um contraponto entre tal mecanismo e alguns dos principais institutos e conceitos de direito civil, obrigacional e contratual existentes no ordenamento jurídico brasileiro. / [en] The main goal of this dissertation is to study the MAC clause and its applicability in Brazil. The MAC clause is much more than a mere single and simple clause, being, in fact, a contractual mechanism, appearing in different ways throughout the contract and extremely present in the international business reality, above all, in complex contractual relationships such as M(and)A transactions, focus of analysis of this dissertation. The main objective of the MAC clause is to deal with any supervening imbalance or change in circumstances in M(and)A transactions. It is a clause that, in addition to being widely discussed contractually and judicially abroad, is of a foreign origin (Anglo-Saxon), therefore reinforcing the need to male a counterpoint between such a mechanism and some of the main institutes and concepts of civil, obligational, and contractual la, existing in the Brazilian legal system.

Nul ne conteste la nature compensatrice de la responsabilité civile. Pourtant, si cette fonction réparatrice n’est guère discutée, les auteurs se séparent aujourd’hui sur le point de savoir si cette fonction doit être la seule assumée par la responsabilité civile. Non qu’il soit contesté qu’elle assume bien d’autres fonctions ; la grande majorité de la doctrine indique en effet, sans toutefois en souligner les ressorts, que les buts poursuivis par la responsabilité sont multiples et relèvent tant de la compensation des préjudices que de la punition et de la dissuasion des comportements dommageables. A l’heure d’une crise de la responsabilité dénoncée par tous, la question touche donc aux rôles que la responsabilité civile doit assumer. Alors que certains auteurs plaident pour un recentrage dur sa mission première d’indemnisation des victimes, de plus en plus de voix plaident au contraire pour l’élargissement de ses fonctions dans un sens à la fois plus répressif mais aussi préventif. Il s’agit donc désormais d’envisager la responsabilité civile comme un véritable outil de gestion des risques. Totalement axée sur l’indemnisation des victimes depuis plusieurs décennies, la responsabilité civile semble paradoxalement mal armée pour répondre à cette nouvelle attente. De plus, un élargissement des fonctions de la responsabilité civile conduit à s’interroger sur la prééminence d’une fonction sur l’autre ou à leur possible conciliation. En réalité, il existe sans conteste un terreau favorable au développement d’une véritable fonction punitive de la responsabilité civile et l’on constate un double mouvement qui nous semble révélateur du rôle régulateur qu’elle peut assumer. En premier lieu, si l’effet punitif diffus que l’on attachait traditionnellement à la condamnation civile est en net recul, sous l’effet du repli de la faute mais aussi des règles gouvernant la réparation, cet effet subsiste néanmoins, comme le démontre notamment l’analyse économique de la responsabilité. Nous avons donc mis en évidence une résistance latente mais bien réelle d’une conception morale de la responsabilité civile servant son objectif normatif. Surtout, nous avons constaté qu’à cet effet secondaire de la responsabilité tend aujourd’hui à se substituer une véritable fonction punitive et dissuasive de la condamnation civile, construite et cohérente. Nous avons donc proposé une lecture renouvelée du fonctionnement de la responsabilité civile après avoir relevé les germes quelque peu épars de cette conception normative de la responsabilité civile : évolution de la notion de préjudice réparable avec notamment l’assouplissement des critères du préjudice réparable en droit des affaires ou l’émergence de nouveaux préjudices comme en matière environnementale ; modification de l’évaluation et des modalités de la réparation ; émergence de la notion de peine privée. Deux méthodes semblent envisageables afin de soutenir la résurgence de la fonction dissuasive et punitive de la responsabilité civile : la première tient à un alourdissement de la condamnation civile, par le jeu de l’évaluation des préjudices réparables mais aussi par le possible recours à la peine privée ; la seconde correspond à la levée des obstacles à l’effet responsabilisant de la responsabilité civile par l’aménagement des mécanismes d’assurance. Le droit des assurances recèle en effet de mécanismes mal connus ou mal exploités qui peuvent également soutenir l’essor de cette fonction punitive de la responsabilité civile. / No one can contest the nature of the compensation brought about by civil liability. However, even though this reparative function is barely discussed, today the authors are divided on whether or not this should be the unique role assumed by civil liability. It cannot be denied that it takes on other roles and fulfills other purposes; the vast majority of the doctrine indicates that in effect, without underlining the outcomes that the objectives of responsibility are multiple and raise issues concerning the compensation of prejudice as well as punishment and the dissuasion of detrimental behavior. At a time when a crisis of responsibility is denounced by all, the question touches on the roles that civil liability must assume. Whereas certain authors plead for a reevaluation concerning the primary function of indemnity to victims, more and more plead the contrary, for an extension of these functions in a direction that is both more repressive and preventative. It is therefore about considering the use of civil liability as a tool in its own right for risk management purposes.Completely centered upon the compensation for victims for several decades, civil liability has, somewhat paradoxically, been ill equipped to face these new questions. Moreover, a diversification of these functions raises questions on the preeminence of the effects of one function on another and their eventual conciliation.In all actuality, there is undeniably a favorable common ground for the development of a truly punitive function of civil liability and one can note that of a double movement that reveals the regulative role that civil liability can assume.Initially, the punitive effect, which is loosely attached to traditional civil condemnation, is clearly receding under the effect of withdrawing faults but also those rules governing reparation. The effect remains nevertheless, as demonstrated by an economic analysis of responsibility. We have therefore highlighted a latent yet very real moral conception of civil liability serving a normative function.Especially noted for this second function of responsibility is that it tends to substitute a true punitive and dissuasive role of civil judgment that is constructive and coherent.We thus proposed a new interpretation of the role of civil liability after having raised the seedlings of its relatively ill scattered normative design : evolution of the notion of reparable prejudice notably with the easing of criteria relating to reparable prejudice in business law or the emergence of new prejudices, for example within an environmental framework.; the modification of the evaluation of reparation ; the emergence of the notion of privatized punishment.Two methods seem possible in order to support the resurgence of the dissuasive and punitive role of civil liability: the first relates to an increase in the consequences of civil condemnation which plays upon the evaluation of reparable prejudices but also the possible recourse to a private penalty; the second corresponds with removing the stumbling blocks which effect responsibility by putting insurance mechanisms in to place. The law relating to the insurance conceals poorly acknowledged or exploited mechanisms that could support a rise in the punitive function of civil liability.

"Thèse présentée à la Faculté des études supérieures en vue de l'obtention du grade de Docteur en droit (LL.D.)" / La Loi sur la protection de la jeunesse prévoit que la détermination des mesures de protection peut faire l'objet d'une décision du Tribunal de la jeunesse ou, alternativement, d'une entente sur mesures volontaires (emv) proposée par un intervenant de la Direction de la protection de la jeunesse et acceptée par le jeune et ses parents. La recherche porte sur le second mode d'application de la Loi. Elle établit la problématique de l'emv en théorie du droit et propose une observation sociologique de la pratique de l'emv dans les cas de troubles de comportements sérieux (art. 38h) L.P.J.). Une problématique scientifique de l'emv commande l'interdisciplinarité. Il s'agit de retracer les origines conceptuelles de cette alternative à la judiciarisation dans des disciplines externes, puis d'insérer cette connaissance en théorie du droit. Le concept d'emv relève de deux mouvements différents, celui de l'intervention contractuelle en travail social et celui de la gouvernance contractuelle en droit. Ce dernier comprend la transaction de droit public, le contrat administratif et le droit souple (soft law). Ces deux mouvements participent d'une même vague de fond théorique, qui déferle actuellement sur l'ensemble des sciences humaines, et qui inclut le contrat de l'analyse transactionnelle en psychologie ainsi que la pédagogie de contrat. Le concept de contrat pédagogique désigne cette mouvance scientifique. Il est inhérent à la modernité et il constitue une mutation paradigmatique par rapport à la division droit privé/droit public, d'où la nécessité, pour définir l'emv, d'un concept nouveau et indépendant par rapport à cette division: le concept d'autorité normative. La recherche sociologique relève de la méthode de l'entretien compréhensif formalisée par Jean-Claude Kaufmann. Elle a pour but d'observer l'effectivité de l'emv. Les entretiens auprès de mères et de jeunes garçons révèlent un vécu subjectif en partie conforme à la finalité instrumentale de l'emv (réactions d'ouverture et d'adhésion au droit), et en partie non conforme (réaction de méprise chez les mères et de peur chez les jeunes). De même, les entretiens réalisés auprès des intervenants révèlent une pensée motrice en partie conforme à la rationalité du droit souple (décision clinique et acceptation de l'autocontrôle requis) et en partie non conforme (attitude rétrospective semblable à celle d'un juge et refus de la finalité imposée par la Loi). Le tout illustre l'important potentiel d'efficacité de l'emv, en termes de protection concrète, mais montre aussi la grande difficulté de la tâche de l'intervenant et l'inadaptation de sa préparation cognitive. Certains d'entre eux refusent le nouveau mode d'action publique parce qu'ils n'en comprennent pas la rationalité. Dans l'approche des problèmes de l'adolescence, il en résulte souvent une prégnance des formes pénales et la survivance, dans l'imaginaire parental, d'une mesure de répression du mineur réfractaire à l'autorité parentale, comme c'était le cas dans l'Acte concernant les écoles d'industrie de 1869. / The Youth Protection Act states that protective measures may be imposed by a decision of the Youth Tribunal or, alternatively, determined through a voluntary measures agreement (vma) proposed by a youth protection case worker and accepted by the minor and his parents. The research bears on the second mode of law application. It draws up the framework of vma in legal theory and proposes a sociological observation of the practice of vma in cases of severe behavior problems (art. 38h) YP.A.). A scientific framework of vma requires interdisciplinarity. The conceptual origins of this alternative to adjudication must be found in external disciplines and then must be introduced in legal theory. The concept of vma cornes from two different scientific movements, the contractual approach in social work and the contractual governance in law. The latter inc1udes public law transaction, administrative contract and soft law. Both movements belong to a large theoretical wave, now invading the whole of human sciences, inc1uding among others transactional analysis in psychology and contract-based pedagogy. The concept of pedagogical contract identifies this large scientific movement. Although inherently modern, the movement represents a paradigm shift from the private law/public law distinction and requires the construction of the new concept of "normative authority", independent from that distinction, in order to define vma. The sociological research follows the principles of comprehensive interview such as formalized by Jean-Claude Kaufmann. Its goal is to study the effectivity of vma. Interviews with mothers and boys reveal a subjective life experience partially in line with the instrumental function of vma (reaction of open-mindedness and adherence to law), and partially not (reaction of misunderstanding amoung mothers and of fear amoung boys). In the same way, interviews with youth protection case workers reveal motives of action partially in line with the rationality of soft law (c1inical decision and acceptance of self-control), and partially not Gudge-like retrospective attitude and refusaI of the official purpose). Globally, the results show the important potential of effectiveness of vma in terms of concrete protection, but they also reveal the great difficulties of the decision-making job undertaken by the youth protection case workers and the inadequacy of their cognitive background. Sorne of them refuse the new administrative mode because they do not understand its rationality. Then, quite often, the treatment of teenager problems reveals the prevalence of a punitive rationality and the survival, in parental imagery, of the idea of a procedure whose purpose would be to repress a child's resistance to authority, as was the case with the Industrial Schools Act of 1869.

This thesis' main focus lies in the analysis of the new statutory provisions pertaining to the civil liability for damage and identifying the differences between the old Civil Code (Act No. 40/964 Coll.) and the newly enacted Civil Code (Act No. 89/2012 Coll.), which brought about major changes with respect to the traditional regulation of liability for damage, which dated back to the enactment of Austrian ABGB in 1811. In this thesis I will try to analyse these changes and critically assess their impact and improvements over the old regulation and bring forward the controversial points and drawbacks of the new Civil Code. In the first and mostly theoretical part of the thesis I will focus mainly on the analysis of the new concept of civil liability which differs from the major view of the civil theory. I will also focus on the change of terminology resulting from these conceptual changes. The second part of this thesis will be less abstract and focus more on the new differentiation between the contractual liability for damage, i. e. liability arising out of the breach of a contract, and the delictual liability for damage, which arises out of the acts violating the statutory provisions (the written law). This thesis consists of three main sections, which are further divided into subsections. The...

1 English Summary The aim of this thesis is to compare the determination of law applicable to non- contractual obligations in the Czech Republic and the United States of America. In the beginning I provide a brief overview of the international private law in general and then the substantial law of torts in both Czech Republic and the USA and the prospective changes in the new Civil Code which should be applicapble from 2014. The fifth chapter concerns with the law applicable to non-contractual obligations in the Czech Republic. In the first place there is a statute (Private International Law Act), but the majority of its provisions were overruled by the Rome II regulation, which unifies the privite international law of the EU states. According to the regulation, general rule for the law applicable to non-contractual obligation arising out of torts is lex loci delicti (the law of the country in which the dammage occurs). Rome II then provides special rules for product liability, unfair competition, environmental dammage, etc. In the Czech Republic the regulation does not apply to traffic accidents because the Czech Republic is a contracting state to Hague Convention on the Law Applicable to Traffic Accidents. The sixth chapter focuses on the law applicable to torts in the USA. The first subchapter deals with...

This thesis "Contractual acquisition of ownership" deals with the fundamental questions of contractual acquisition of property law in the Czech Civil Code. Some of the parts of the project are comparative. The author takes into account both the older national regulations of contractual acquisition as well as the different approaches in the same field in some foreign legal systems. In the introduction the author highlights the importance of property law (this right forms one of three fundamental pillars of private law - together with "man" and "contract") as well as the possibility to transfer it to another. First chapter shows that - from the general point of view - acquisition of property law as such may be based on a number of different modes. The paper contains an overview of particular modes and its dividing into relevant categories. The acquisition based on contracts is a type of derivative acquisition. Next chapter is devoted to some general questions of contractual transfer of ownership. Some decisive (general and special) legal principles are offered: namely the principle of the autonomy of the will, the principle of the absence of formality of contracts and finally the "nemo dat" principle (nemo dat quod non habet). This part of the project also focuses on the basic conceptual elements of...

Legal aspects of the securing of obligations in international trade The securing of obligations in the international trade is recently, possibly more than ever before, very topical issue, and the reason is quite clear - there is a strong need to secure international contractual obligations by effective and reliable securing instruments because of the economic and debt crises which started in 2008 and has been still a very actual problem. This thesis focuses on legal relations arising from the securing of contractual obligations in the international trade. The goal of the thesis is to describe legal aspects of securing obligations considering the determination of an applicable law, under which the securing is governed. Because of the author's long- term working bank experience, the final part of the text deals with a securing by a bank guarantee. In the first part of the thesis there are described legal relations in which an international element appears, and there are also described a purpose, function, categorization and different types of securing instruments respective of the international trade. The second part of the thesis deals with the problem how to determine which law is the applicable one for securing of obligations in the international trade. There are described legal aspects of...