The General Principles of Contract Law in the 'Ordonnance' on the Reform of Contract Law

AuthorMustapha Mekki
PositionProfessor to the University Paris 13 - Sorbonne Paris Cité, Director of the Research Institute for Attractive Law. This Essay was written as part of the Louisiana Law Review's Symposium of the Civil Law, which was held on March 18, 2016 at the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at Louisiana State University. Special thanks to the Volume 76 Board of ...
Pages1193-1211
The General Principles of Contract Law in the
“Ordonnance” on the Reform of Contract Law
Mustapha Mekki
INTRODUCTION
Finally, the reform of contract law has taken place. After 10 years of
waiting, Title III of Book III of the French Civil Code has been revised.1
The revision was done by “Ordonnance”—legislation developed without
going through Parliament.2 The Ordonnance, which was published in
February 2016,3 contains numerous changes to French contract law that
are meant to better align the law with the economic and social realities of
today.4 This Essay is not concerned with all of the intricacies of the reform,
but rather will provide analysis of its general principles, namely “good
faith” and “freedom of contract,” which are explicitly detailed in the
proposal.5
Copyright 2016, by MUSTAPHA MEKKI.
Professor to the University Paris 13 - Sorbonne Paris Cité, Director of the
Research Institute for Attractive Law. This Essay was written as part of the
Louisiana Law Review’s Symposium of the Civil Law, which was held on March
18, 2016 at the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at Louisiana State University. Special
thanks to the Volume 76 Board of Editors of the Louisiana Law Review for their
editing assistance.
1. See Jean-Jacques Urvoas, Conseil des ministres du 10 février 2016: Réforme
du droit des contrats, du régime général et de la preuve d’obligations, VIE PUBLIQUE,
http://discours.vie-publique.fr/notices/166000323.html [https://perma.cc/8XCD-8SE
L] (last visited Mar. 2, 2016).
2. See id.; 1958 CONST. art. 38 (Fr.).
3. See Urvoas, supra note 1.
4. See id.; MINISTÈRE DE LA JUSTICE, RÉPUBLIQUE FRANÇ AISE, RÉFORMER LE
DROIT DES CONTRATS 1 (Feb. 25, 2015), available at http://www.justice. gouv.fr/publi
cation/j21_dp_projet_ord_reforme_contrats_2015.pdf [https://perma.cc/QEP4-SGZ
S]; Bénédicte Fauvarque-Cosson, Towards an Important Reform of the French Civil
Code, MONTESQUIEU L. REV., Oct. 2015, at 2–3.
5. Ordonnance 2016-131 du 10 février 2016 portant réforme du droit des
contrats, du régime général et de la preuve des obligations [Ordonnance 2016-131
of February 10, 2016 on the Reform of Contract Law, and the General Scheme of
Proof of Obligations] JOURNAL OFFICIE L DE LA RÉPUBLIQUE FRANÇAISE [J.O.]
[OFFICIAL GAZETTE OF FRANCE], Feb. 11, 2016, arts. 1102, 1104, at 26 (Fr.)
[hereinafter Ordonna nce]. In this Essay, English translations of the final
Ordonnance utilize the English translation of the Draft Ordonnance for those
portions of the final Ordonnance that are identical to the Draft Ordonnance. For
the English language version of the Draft Ordonnance, see MINISTÈRE D E LA
JUSTICE, RÉPUBLIQUE FRANÇAISE, DRAFT ORDONNANCE FOR THE REFORM OF THE
LAW OF CONTRACT, THE GENERAL REGIME OF OBLIGATIONS, AND PROOF OF
OBLIGATION S arts. 1102, 1103 (J. Cartwright, B. Fauvarque-Cosson & S. Whittaker
trans., 2015) [hereinafter DRAFT ORDONNANCE], available at http://www.textes
1194 LOUISIANA LAW REVIEW [Vol. 76
The general principles contained in the Ordonnance are nothing new
to the civilian’s conception of contract law, but the form of their
presentation is innovative. Unlike in previous Civil Codes, the general
principles of good faith and freedom of contract are reflected in express
statutory language.6 Although the Ordonnance does not say that these
provisions represent general principles,7 such a conclusion is clear from
both their placement in the Ordonnance and the language of the Enabling
Law of February 16, 2015.
As Article 8 of the Enabling Law of February 16, 2015 makes clear, the
reform aims to, among other things, affirm the general principles of contract
law (principes généraux du droit des contrats), such as good faith (bonne
foi) and freedom of contract (liberté contractuelle).8 In the Ordonnance,
these principles are expressly provided for by articles 1104 and 1102,
respectively, which are contained in a preliminary chapter—within Section
1 of Title III—entitled “Preliminary Provisions” (Dispositions
préliminaires).9 This placement is significant because it shows the relative
importance of the principles, which are meant to generally apply to all of the
articles that follow in Title III, Sub-title 1, concerning the sources of
contractual obligations.
Although the presentation of general principles is somewhat innovative,
overall, the project is quite moderate and does not present a revolution of
ideas. Thus, the Ordonnance respects the advice of Portalis: “[C]aution
about novelty in legislative matters is necessary because, while it is
possible in a new undertaking to calculate the advantages a theory offers,
it is impossible to anticipate all the drawbacks that practice alone can
.justice.gouv.fr/art_pix/Draft-Ordonnance-for-the-Reform-of-the -Civil-Codepdf.pdf
[https://perma.cc/D3LE-T7TN]. For the French language version of the draft
Ordonnance, see MINISTÈRE D E LA JUSTICE , RÉPUBLIQUE FRANÇAISE, PROJET
D’ORDONNANCE DU PORTANT RÉFORME DU DRO IT DES CONTRATS, DU RÉGIME
GÉNÉRAL ET DE LA PREUVE DES OBLIGATIONS (2015), available at http://www
.justice.gouv.fr/publication/j21_projet_ord_reforme_contrats_2015.pdf [https://per
ma.cc/M2WN-28PC]. It is important to note, however, that what was article 1103 in
the Draft Ordonnance is now article 1104 in the final Ordonnance. See id.
6. Ordonnance, supra note 5, arts. 1102, 1104.
7. Id.
8. Loi 2015-177 du 16 février 2015 relative à la modernization et à la
simplification du droit et des procédures dans les domains de la justice et des
affaires intérieures [Law 2015-177 of February 16, 2015 on the Modernization
and Simplification of the Law and Procedures in the Areas of Justice and Home
Affairs], JOURNAL OFFICIEL DE LA RÉPUBLIQUE FRANÇAISE [J.O.] [OFFICIAL
GAZETTE OF FRANCE], Feb. 16, 2015, p. 2961 (Fr.) [hereinafter Enabling Law of
February 16, 2015]; see also Augustin Aynès, Dispositions Préliminaires, 118
JOURNAL DE SOCIÉTÉS [J. SOCIÉTÉS] 12 (2014) (Fr.).
9. Ordonnance, supra note 5, arts. 1102, 1104.

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT