Vitiating factor
| Vitiating factor |
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| See also |
Name Vitiating factors comes because they harm or invalidate the consent. Vitiating factors that the law considers to be a breach of contract are false information, errors, coercion, undue influence and illegality. A clause, provision or term which affects the contract in whole or in part or renders it void, or voidable[1].
Vitiating factors in contract law give a very simple picture of 'consent, disagreement' which is, however, distorted normatively, lacking in lawfulness, wanting to clarify, lacking in transparency and taking an unrealistic and disregardful view of the complainant's reasonableness[2].
PICC, PELC and DCFR versus US Restatement of Contracts
PECL and PICC are 'opt-in' codes: i.e. they do not apply to a contract unless the parties agree to do so. The DCFR is part of the ongoing review of EU-wide contract law2. It is an academic-oriented document which is not yet intended as an 'opt-in' code. Nevertheless, it is important to analyse the DCFR as it is an official step towards the intended political Common Frame of Reference, which will be formally adopted by the EU legislative institutions. The DCFR contains ten "books", each focusing on a different area of private law, while Book II is a book, a general aggravating factor, therefore all references to articles in the DCFR are to vitiating factors[3].
The US legal system is important for the whole world, especially in the commercial world. Due to the fact that the Federal legal system, with different legal traditions in different, potentially efficient, that an indirect comparison of case law would be complicated. Legal in relation to contract violations. In fact, the unified commercial code does not address this topic at all. That's why you chose Restatement as the main element of my comparison with American law. Restatement is not binding legislation; it is not actually intended for PECL[4].
Types of contracts
Types of contracts in which the most often is analyzed vitiating factors[5]:
- Purchase and sale transactions, leasing and other real estate transactions
- The sale and purchase of a business issue and the sale of shares in the company
- Joint venture agreements and partnership agreements
- Loan letters and performance bonds
- Bills of exchange and financial investments
- Insurance contracts
- Loan and loan agreements and guarantees
- Credit references and characteristic
- Building contracts
- Settlement agreements and layoffs
- Charter contracts and transport and storage contracts
- Employment contracts
- Wasted expenses
- Marriage and family misrepresentation
Footnotes
References
- Klass G., Letsas G., Saprai P. (2015), The Nature of Vitiating Factors in Contract Law, Oxford Scholarship Online, s. 288
- MacDonald Egger P. (2017), Vitiation of Contractual Consent, Informal Law from Routledge, New York, s.671
- Spark G. (2012), Vitiation of Contracts: International Contractual Principles and English Law, Cambridge University Press, New York, s. 11-12
- Vaince S.A. (2019), Vitiating Factors , "VLC Publishers ", s.1
Author: Anna Syjud
