Versailles Court of Appeal, 12th Chamber, September 24, 2020, No. 19/03654
Article 1186 of the Civil Code provides that a validly formed contract becomes void if one of its essential elements disappears. Case law still needs to clarify the scope of this new article resulting from the reform of contract law, particularly by answering these questions: what are the essential elements of a contract? Can the disappearance of one of these essential elements result from the will of the parties?
A recent ruling by the Versailles Court of Appeal provides an answer: the disappearance of an essential element of a contract, as defined in Article 1186, cannot be dependent on the will of the parties. Thus, a company's failure to perform its contractual obligations cannot constitute grounds for the contract's lapse, even if invoked by the party suffering the breach.
In this case, this solution seems appropriate to us. Indeed, recognizing the contrary would ultimately amount to granting the defaulting party a right to unilaterally terminate the contract.
