Since the entry into force of Ordinance No. 2016-131 of February 10, 2016, which reformed contract law, the question of its ratification has arisen, it being specified that although Parliament has empowered the Government to rule by way of ordinance, Parliament retained the possibility of modifying this reform during the phase of ratification of the ordinance.
On April 20, Law No. 2018-287 of April 20, 2018 ratifying Ordinance No. 2016-131 of February 10, 2016 reforming contract law, the general regime and proof of obligations was adopted.
This law comprises 16 articles thus modifying certain provisions of the Civil Code resulting from the aforementioned ordinance.
In particular, the following changes have been made:
- A modification of the definition of the membership contract: “The membership contract is one that includes a set of non-negotiable clauses, determined in advance by one of the parties”;
- A modification of the provisions relating to the lapse of the contract offer: the death of the recipient is also a cause of lapse;
- Details on the scope of fraudulent concealment: "does not constitute fraud the fact for a party not to reveal to its co-contractor its estimate of the value of the service";
- A modification of the system of abuse in the setting of the price of a service provision contract which can be sanctioned by the judge not only by damages but also by the termination of the contract;
- A limitation of the system relating to abusive clauses, which can only lead to the sanction of non-negotiable clauses;
- A modification of the regime of the new sanction which is the price reduction, provided for by article 1223 of the Civil Code, now worded as follows: "In the event of imperfect performance of the service, the creditor may, after formal notice and if he has not yet paid all or part of the service, notify the debtor as soon as possible of his decision to reduce the price proportionally. The debtor's acceptance of the creditor's price reduction decision must be in writing. If the creditor has already paid, failing agreement between the parties, he may ask the judge to reduce the price”.
The new provisions relating to membership contracts, the lapse of the contract offer, fraudulent reluctance, penalties for non-performance of the contract, assignment of debt, payment of sums of money in foreign currency and the contingency regime will apply to legal acts entered into or drawn up as of October 1, 2018.
The other provisions of an interpretative nature are immediately applicable.
The Business Law team
