Contract Law: A Comparative Introduction, Second Edition by J.N Smits

Please see the below supplementary resources for this title..

Civil Code (Code Civil) (selection)*

* This text is partly based on an amended version of the official translation of the reform of the French civil code through Ordonnance No. 2016-131 by the French Ministry of Justice as available on http://www.textes.justice.gouv.fr/art_pix/THE-LAW-OF-CONTRACT-2-5-16.pdf

Art. 5: The courts shall be prohibited from issuing rules which take the form of general and binding decisions on those cases which are submitted to them.

Art. 6: Statutes relating to public policy and morals may not be derogated from by private agreements.

Art. 8: Every French person enjoys civil rights.

Art. 9: Everyone has the right to respect for his family life. (…)

Art. 16: The law ensures the primacy of the person, prohibits any infringement of the latter’s dignity and safeguards the respect of the human being from the beginning of its life.

Art. 16-7: Any agreement relating to procreation or gestation for the sake of somebody else is void.

Art. 388: A minor is an individual of either sex who has not yet reached the age of eighteen years.

Art. 388-1-1: The legal administrator represents the minor in all acts of civil life, except in case where the law or usage authorise the minors to act themselves.

Art. 389: If the parental authority is exercised in common by the two parents, they are statutory administrators. In the other cases, statutory administration belongs to the parent who exercises parental authority.

Art. 389-3: The statutory administrator acts as an agent for the minor in all civil transactions, except for cases where the law or usage authorises minors to act for themselves. (…)

Art. 414: Majority is fixed at having completed eighteen years; at this age, everyone has capacity to exercise the rights that it enjoys.

Art. 414-1: In order to enter into a valid transaction, it is necessary to be of sound mind. But it is for those who seek annulment on that ground to prove the existence of a mental disorder at the time of the transaction.

Art. 425: Any person who is unable to safeguard its own interests because of a medically established infringement of his mental abilities, or of his physical abilities in case this prevents him from expressing his will, can benefit from a system of protection provided for in the following Chapters. (…)

Art. 440: A person who cannot act for itself and is in need of permanent assistance or supervision in important transactions of civil life can, for one of the reasons mentioned in Article 425, be placed under wardship (curatelle).

Art. 931: All acts containing a gift among living persons shall be executed before a notary, in the normal form of contracts; and the original shall remain with the notary, on the pain of invalidity.

Art. 970: An holographic will is invalid unless it is entirely written, dated and signed by the hand of the testator: it is not subject to any other form.

Art. 971: A will by public instrument shall be received by two notaries or by one notary attended by two witnesses.

Art. 1100: Obligations arise from juridical acts, legally significant facts or from the sole authority of the law.

                    They can arise from the voluntary performance or from the promise of performance of a moral duty towards another person.

Art. 1100-1: Juridical acts are manifestations of will intended to produce legal effects. They may be based on agreement or unilateral.

                    As far as is appropriate, they are subject, both as to their validity and as to their effects, to the rules governing contracts.

Art. 1101: A contract is an agreement of wills among two or more persons intended to create, modify, transfer or extinguish obligations.

Art. 1102: Everyone is free to contract or not to contract, to choose the person with whom to contract, and to determine the content and the form of the contract, within the limits imposed by law.

                    Contractual freedom does not allow derogation from rules which are an expression of public policy.

Art 1103: Contracts which are lawfully formed have the binding force of legislation for those who have made them.

Art. 1104: Contracts must be negotiated, formed and performed in good faith.

This provision is of public policy.

Art. 1106: A contract is bilateral if the parties undertake reciprocal obligations vis-à-vis each other.

                    It is unilateral if one or more persons undertake obligations in favour of one or more others without there being any reciprocal obligation on the part of the latter.

Art. 1112: The commencement, continuation and breaking-off of precontractual negotiations are allowed. They must mandatorily satisfy the requirements of good faith.

In case of fault committed during the negotiations, the reparation of the resulting loss must not aim to compensate the loss of benefits which were expected from the contract that was not concluded.

Art. 1112-1: The party who has information which is of decisive importance for the consent of the other, must inform the other of it where the latter legitimately does not know the information or relies on his fellow contracting party.’

                    However, this duty to inform does not apply to an assessment of the value of the act of performance.

                    Information is of decisive importance if it has a direct and necessary relationship with the content of the contract or the status of the parties.

                    A person who claims that information was due to him has the burden of proving that the other party had the duty to provide it, and that other party has the burden of proving that he has provided it.

                    The parties may neither limit nor exclude this duty.

In addition to imposing liability on the party who had the duty to inform, his failure to fulfil the duty may lead to annulment of the contract under the conditions provided by articles 1130 and following.

Art. 1112-2: A person who without permission makes use of or discloses confidential information obtained in the course of negotiations incurs liability under the conditions set out by the law in general.

Art. 1113: A contract is formed by the meeting of an offer and an acceptance by which the parties demonstrate their will to be bound.

                    This may stem from a person’s declaration or unequivocal conduct.

Art. 1114: An offer, whether made to a particular person or to persons generally, contains the essential elements of the envisaged contract, and expresses the will of the offeror to be bound in case of acceptance. Failing this, there is only an invitation to enter into negotiations.

Art. 1115: An offer may be withdrawn freely as long as it has not reached the person to whom it was addressed.

Art. 1116: An offer may not be revoked before the expiry of any period fixed by the offeror or, if no such period has been fixed, the end of a reasonable period.

                    The revocation of an offer contrary to this prohibition prevents the contract from being concluded.

                    The person who thus revokes an offer incurs extra-contractual liability under the conditions set out by the general law, and has no obligation to compensate the loss of  profits which were expected from the contract.

Art. 1117: An offer lapses on the expiry of the period fixed by the offeror or, if no period is fixed, at the end of a reasonable period.

                    It also lapses in the case of the incapacity or death of the offeror.

Art. 1118: An acceptance is the manifestation of the will of the offeree to be bound on the terms of the offer.

                    As long as the acceptance has not reached the offeror, it may be withdrawn freely provided that the withdrawal reaches the offeror before the acceptance.

                    An acceptance which does not conform to the offer has no effect, apart from constituting a new offer.

Art. 1119: General conditions put forward by one party have no effect on the other party unless they have been brought to the latter’s attention and that party has accepted them.

                    In case of inconsistency between general conditions relied on by each of the parties, incompatible clauses have no effect.

                    In case of inconsistency between general conditions and special conditions, the latter prevail over the former.

Art. 1120: Silence does not count as acceptance except if so provided by law, usage, business dealings or other particular circumstances.

Art. 1121: A contract is concluded as soon as the acceptance reaches the offeror. It is deemed to be concluded at the place where the acceptance has arrived.

Art. 1122: Legislation or the contract may provide for a period for reflection, which is a period within which the offeree cannot give his acceptance, or a period for withdrawal, which is a period within which a party may withdraw his consent.

Art. 1128: The following are necessary for the validity of a contract:

1. the consent of the parties;
2. their capacity to contract;
3. content which is lawful and certain.

Art. 1129: In accordance with article 414-1, one must be of sound mind in order to give valid consent to a contract.

Art. 1130: Mistake, fraud and duress vitiate the consent where they are of such a nature that, without them, one of the parties would not have contracted or would have contracted on substantially different terms.

                    Their decisive character is assessed in the light of the person and of the circumstances in which consent was given.

Art. 1131: Defects of consent are a ground of relative nullity of the contract.

Art. 1132: Mistake of law or of fact, as long as it is not inexcusable, is a ground for avoidance of the contract where it bears on the essential qualities of the performance owed or of the other contracting party.

Art. 1133: The essential qualities of the act of performance are those which have been expressly or impliedly agreed and which the parties took into account on contracting.

                    Mistake is a ground of nullity whether it bears on the act of performance of one party or of the other.

                    Acceptance of a risk about a quality of the act of performance rules out mistake in relation to this quality.

Art. 1134: Mistake about the essential qualities of the other contracting party is a ground of nullity only as regards contracts entered into on the basis of considerations personal to the party.

Art. 1135: Mistake about mere motive, external to the essential qualities of the act of performance owed or of the other contracting party is not a ground of nullity unless the parties have expressly made it a decisive element of their consent.

                    However, mistake about the motive for an act of generosity is a ground of nullity where, but for the mistake, the donor would not have made it.

Art. 1136: A mistake as to value is not a ground of nullity if, in the absence of a mistake about the essential qualities of the act of performance, a contracting party makes only an inaccurate valuation of it.

Art. 1137: Fraud is an act of a party in obtaining the consent of the other by scheming or lies.

                    The intentional concealment by one party of information, where he knows its decisive character for the other party, is also fraud.

Art. 1139: A mistake induced by fraud is always excusable. It is a ground of nullity even if it bears on the value of the act of performance or on a party’s mere motive.

Art. 1140: There is duress if one party contracts under the influence of a constraint which makes him fear that his person or his wealth, or those of his near relatives, might be exposed to considerable harm.

Art. 1143: There is also duress where one contracting party exploits the other’s state of dependence and obtains an undertaking to which the latter would not have agreed in the absence of such constraint, and gains from it a manifestly excessive advantage.

Art. 1145: Every natural person is able to conclude a contract, except in the case of lack of capacity provided for by legislation.

                    The capacity of legal persons is limited to acts useful for realizing their purpose as defined by their statutes and acts which are incidental to them, in accordance with the rules applicable to each of those persons.

Art. 1146: The following lack the capacity to conclude a contract, to the extent to which legislation provides:

1. minors who have not been emancipated;
2. protected adults within the meaning of article 425.

Art. 1147: A lack of capacity to conclude a contract is a ground of relative nullity.

Art. 1148: Every person who lacks the capacity to contract may nonetheless effect independently day-to-day acts authorised by legislation or by usage, provided that they are concluded on normal terms.

Art. 1149: Day-to-day acts effected by a minor may be annulled on the ground of mere substantive inequality of bargain. However, nullity is not incurred where the substantive inequality results from an unforeseeable event. (…)

Art. 1151: A contracting party who has capacity may defend an action for annulment brought against him by establishing that the act was useful to the protected person and was free from substantive inequality, or that he profited from it.

Such a contracting party may also set up against an action for annulment the fact that the other party to the contract affirmed the act after gaining or regaining his capacity.

Art. 1153: A representative authorised by legislation, by a court or by a contract is justified in acting only within the limits of the authority conferred upon him.

Art. 1154: Where a representative acts within his authority and in the name and on behalf of the person whom he represents, only the latter is bound to the undertaking so contracted.

Where a representative states that he is acting on behalf of another person but contracts in his own name, he alone is bound towards the other contracting party.

Art. 1156: An act made by a representative without authority or beyond his authority cannot be held against the person whom he represents, unless the third party with whom he contracts legitimately believed that he had that person’s authority, notably by reason of the latter’s behaviour or statements.

Where a third party with whom a representative contracts was unaware that the act was concluded by the representative without authority or beyond his authority, the third party may invoke its nullity.

Neither an inability to set up an act against another person nor its nullity can be invoked once the person represented has ratified it.

Art. 1162: The contract cannot derogate from public policy either by its provisions or by its purpose, regardless of whether the latter was known to all the parties or not.

Art. 1171: Any term of a standard form contract which creates a significant imbalance in the rights and obligations of the parties to the contract is deemed not written.

The assessment of significant imbalance must not concern either the main subjectmatter of the contract nor the adequacy of the price in relation to the act of performance.

Art. 1172: In principle contracts require only the consent of the parties.

                    By way of exception, the validity of a solemn contract is subject to the fulfilment of formalities set by legislation, and their absence renders the contract a nullity except where it may be regularized.

                    In addition, legislation subjects the formation of certain contracts to the delivery of a thing.

Art. 1173: Formal requirements imposed for the purpose of proof of a contract or setting up a contract against another person have no effect on the validity of the contract.

Art. 1188: A contract is to be interpreted according to the common intention of the parties rather than by stopping at the literal meaning of its terms.

Where this intention cannot be discerned, a contract is to be interpreted in the sense which a reasonable person placed in the same situation would give to it.

Art. 1189: All the terms of a contract are to be interpreted in relation to each other, giving to each the meaning which respects the consistency of the contract as a whole.

Where, according to the common intention of the parties, several contracts contribute to one and the same operation, they are to be interpreted by reference to this operation.

Art. 1190: In case of ambiguity, a bespoke contract is interpreted against the creditor and in favour of the debtor, and a standard-form contract is interpreted against the person who put it forward.

Art. 1191: If a contract term is capable of bearing two meanings, the one which gives it some effect is to be preferred to the one which makes it produce no effect.

Art. 1192: Clear and unambiguous terms are not subject to interpretation as doing so risks their distortion.

Art. 1195: If a change of circumstances unforeseeable at the time of the conclusion of the contract renders performance excessively onerous for a party who had not accepted the risk of such a change, that party may ask the other contracting party to renegotiate the contract. The first party must continue to perform his obligations during renegotiation.

                    In case of refusal or failure of renegotiations, the parties may agree to terminate the contract from the date and on the conditions which they determine, or by a common agreement ask the court to adapt the contract. In the absence of an agreement within a reasonable time, the court may, on the request of a party, revise the contract or put an end to it, from a date and subject to such conditions as it shall determine.

Art. 1196: As regards contracts whose purpose is to transfer property or the assignment of some other right, transfer takes place at the time of the conclusion of the contract.

                    This transfer may be deferred by the will of the parties, by the nature of the things in question or by the effect of legislation.

                    The transfer of property entails the transfer of risk in the thing. Nevertheless, the debtor of an obligation to deliver regains the risk in it from the time of being put on notice to perform, in conformity with article 1344-2 and subject to the rules provided by article 1351-1.

Art. 1199: A contract creates obligations only as between the parties.

                    Third parties may neither claim performance of the contract nor be obliged to perform it, subject to the provisions of this section and those in Chapter III of Title IV.

Art. 1205: One may stipulate for another person.

                    One of the parties, the stipulator, may require a promise from the other party, the promisor, to accomplish an act of performance for the benefit of a third party, the beneficiary. The latter may be a future person but must be exactly identified or must be able to be determined at the time of the performance of the promise.

Art. 1217: A party towards whom an undertaking has not been performed or has been performed imperfectly, may:

- refuse to perform or withhold performance of his own obligations;

- seek enforced performance in kind of the obligation;

- request a reduction in price;

- provoke the termination of the contract;

- claim reparation of the consequences of the non-performance.

                    Remedies which are not incompatible may be combined; damages may always be added to any of the others.

Art. 1218: In contractual matters, there is force majeure where an event beyond the control of the debtor, which could not reasonably have been foreseen at the time of the conclusion of the contract and whose effects could not be avoided by appropriate measures, prevents performance of his obligation by the debtor.

                    If the prevention is temporary, performance of the obligation is suspended unless the delay which results justifies termination of the contract. If the prevention is permanent, the contract is terminated by operation of law and the parties are discharged from their obligations under the conditions provided by articles 1351 and 1351-1.’

Art. 1219: A party may refuse to perform his obligation, even where it is enforceable, if the other party does not perform his own and if this non-performance is sufficiently serious.

Art. 1220: A party may withhold the performance of his obligation as soon as it becomes clear that his contracting partner will not perform his obligation when it becomes due and that the consequences of this non-performance are sufficiently serious for him. Notice of this withholding the performance must be given as quickly as possible.

Art. 1221: A creditor of an obligation may, having given notice to perform, seek performance in kind unless performance is impossible or if there is a manifest disproportion between its cost to the debtor and its interest for the creditor.

Art. 1223: Having given notice to perform, a creditor may accept an imperfect contractual performance and reduce the price proportionally.

                    If he has not yet paid, the creditor must give notice of his decision to reduce the price as quickly as possible.

Art. 1224: Termination results either from the application of a termination clause, or, where the non-performance is sufficiently serious, from notice by the creditor to the debtor or from a judicial decision.

Art. 1225: The termination clause must specify the undertakings whose non-performance will lead to the termination of the contract.

                    Termination may take place only after service of a notice to perform which has not been complied with, unless it was agreed that termination may arise from the mere act of non-performance. The notice to perform takes effect only if it refers expressly to the termination clause.

Art. 1226: The creditor may, at his own risk, terminate the contract by notice. Unless there is urgency, he must previously have put the debtor in default to perform his undertaking within a reasonable time.

                    The notice to perform must state expressly that if the debtor fails to fulfil his obligation, the creditor will have a right to terminate the contract.

                    Where the non-performance persists, the creditor notifies the debtor of the termination of the contract and the reasons on which it is based.

                    The debtor may at any time bring proceedings to challenge such a termination. The creditor must then prove the seriousness of the non-performance.

Art. 1227: Termination may in any event be claimed in court proceedings.

Art. 1228: The court may, according to the circumstances, recognise or declare the termination of the contract or order its performance, with the possibility of allowing the debtor further time to do so, or award only damages.

Art. 1229: Termination puts an end to the contract.

                    Termination takes effect, according to the situation, on the conditions provided by any termination clause, at the date of receipt by the debtor of a notice given by the creditor, or on the date set by the court or, in its absence, the day on which proceedings were brought.

(…)

Art. 1231: Unless non-performance is permanent, damages are only due if the debtor has previously been put on notice to perform (mise en demeure) his obligation within a reasonable time.

Art. 1231-1: The debtor is condemned, where appropriate, to the payment of damages either on the ground of the non-performance or a delay in performance of an obligation, unless he justifies this on the ground that performance was prevented by force majeure.

Art. 1231-2: In general, damages due to the creditor are for the loss that he has incurred or the gain of which he has been deprived, with the following exceptions and qualifications.

Art. 1231-3: A debtor is bound only to damages which were either foreseen or which could have been foreseen at the time of conclusion of the contract, except where non-performance was due to a gross or dishonest fault

Art. 1231-4: In the situation where non-performance of a contract does indeed result from gross or dishonest fault, damages include only that which is the immediate and direct result of non-performance.

Art. 1231-5: Where a contract stipulates that the person who fails to perform shall pay a certain sum of money by way of damages, the other party may be awarded neither a higher nor a lower sum.

                    Nevertheless, a court may, even of its own initiative, moderate or increase the penalty so agreed if it is manifestly excessive or derisory.

                    Where an undertaking has been performed in part, the agreed penalty may be reduced by a court, even of its own initiative, in proportion to the advantage which partial performance has procured for the creditor, without prejudice to the application of the preceding paragraph.

                    Any stipulation contrary to the preceding two paragraphs is deemed not written.

Except where non-performance is permanent, a penalty is not incurred unless the debtor was put on notice to perform.

Art. 1231-6: Damages due on the ground of delay in performance of a monetary obligation consist of interest at the rate set by legislation, starting from the time of notice to perform.

                    These damages are due without the creditor having to establish any loss.

                    Where a debtor who is late in performing has by his bad faith caused his creditor a loss independent of this delay, the latter may obtain damages distinct from interest arising from the delay.

Art. 1240: Any act of a person which causes damage to another obliges him by whose fault the damage occurred to make reparation for it.

Art. 1241: Everyone is liable for the damage he causes not only by his acts, but also by his negligence or imprudence.

Art. 1321: Assignment of a right is a contract by which the creditor assignor transfers, whether or not for value, the whole or part of his right against the assignment debtor to a third party called the the assignee.

                    It may concern one or more rights, present or future, ascertained or ascertainable.

                    It extends to the ancillary rights of the right that is assigned.

The consent of the debtor is not required unless the right was stipulated to be nonassignable.

Art. 1322: The assignment of rights must be effected in writing, on pain of nullity.

Art. 1323: As between the parties, the transfer of the right takes effect at the date of the act.

                    It can be held against third parties from that moment. In the event the assignment is challenged, the burden of proof of the date of the assignment rests on the assignee, who may establish it by any means of proof.

                    However, the transfer of a future right takes effect only on the day when it comes into existence, as between the parties as well as against third parties.

Art. 1324: Unless the debtor has already agreed to it, the assignment may be held against him only if it has been notified to him or he has acknowledged it.

                    The debtor may hold against the assignee defences inherent in the debt itself, such as nullity, the defence of non-performance, termination or the right to set off related debts. He may also set up defences which arose from the relations with the assignor before the assignment became enforceable against him, such as the grant of a deferral, the release of a debt, or the set-off of debts which are not related.

                    The assignor and the assignee are jointly and severally liable for any additional costs arising from the assignment which the debtor did not have to advance. Subject to any contractual term to the contrary, the burden of these costs lies on the assignee.

Art. 1341: The creditor has the right to performance of the obligation; he may oblige the debtor to perform under the conditions provided by law.

Art. 1344: A debtor is put on notice to perform (mise en demeure) either by formal demand (sommation) or an act which gives sufficient warning, or, if this is provided for by the contract, by the mere fact that the obligation is enforceable.

Art. 1351: Impossibility to perform discharges the debtor to the extent of that impossibility where it results from an event of force majeure and is definitive unless he had agreed to bear the risk of the event or had previously been given notice to perform.

Art. 1358: Apart from cases for which legislation provides otherwise, proof may be established by any means.

Art. 1359: A juridical act relating to a sum of money or value in excess of an amount fixed by decree [€1500] must be proved by evidence in writing, whether privately signed or authenticated.

                    No proof may be brought beyond or contrary to evidence in writing establishing a juridical act, even if the sum of money or value does not exceed this amount, except by other written evidence which is signed or contained in privately signed or authenticated writing.

                    A person whose contractual right exceeds the threshold mentioned in the previous paragraph may not be dispensed from proving it by evidence in writing by reducing his claim.

                    The same rule applies to a person whose claim, even if lower than this amount, concerns the balance of a sum or a part of a right higher than this amount.’

Art. 1361: Evidence in writing may be supplemented by an admission in court, by a decisive oath, or by a beginning of proof by writing which is supported by another means of proof.

Art. 1362: Any written evidence constitutes a beginning of proof by writing where it originates from the person who is challenging the act or a person whom he represents and renders what is alleged likely to be true.

                    A court may consider as equivalent to a beginning of proof by writing any statements made by a party in responding orally to the court’s questions, his refusal to reply to the court’s questions, or his failure to appear to respond to the court’s questions.

                    A reference to an authenticated writing or to a signed writing on a public register is equivalent to a beginning of proof by writing.

Art. 1394: All matrimonial agreements shall be drawn up in an instrument before a notary, in the presence and with the simultaneous consent of all the persons who are parties thereto or of their agents. (…)

Art. 1582: A sale is an agreement by which one person binds himself to deliver a thing, and another to pay for it.

                    It may be made by an authentic instrument or by the parties themselves.

Art. 1583: It is complete between the parties, and ownership is acquired immediately by the buyer from the seller, as soon as the thing and the price have been agreed upon, although the thing has not yet been delivered or the price paid.

Art. 1591: The price of a sale must be determined and stated by the parties.

Art. 1602: The seller is obliged to explain clearly what he binds himself to.

                    Any obscure or ambiguous agreement shall be interpreted against the seller.

Art. 1612: The seller is not obliged to deliver the thing where the buyer does not pay the price of it unless the seller has granted him time for the payment.

Art. 1674: Where a seller has suffered a loss greater than seven-twelfths of the price of an immovable, he is entitled to apply for the rescission of the sale, even though he may have expressly renounced in the contract the faculty of applying for that rescission and have declared to donate the surplus.

Art. 1719: A lessor is bound, by the nature of the contract, and without need of any particular stipulation:

1° To deliver the thing leased to the lessee and, where the main dwelling of the latter is concerned, a decent lodging. In case a residential dwelling is not fit for this use, the lessor cannot claim the nullity of the lease or its termination in order to evict the resident;

2° To maintain that thing in order so that it can serve the use for which it has been let;

3° To secure to the lessee a peaceful enjoyment for the duration of the lease;

4° To secure also the permanence and quality of plantings.

Art. 1891: Where the thing borrowed has such defects that it may cause harm to the person who uses it, the lender is liable, where he knew of the defects and did not warn the borrower.

Art. 1984: Agency or power of attorney is en act by which a person gives to another the authority to do something for the principal and in his name.

An agency is formed only through acceptance of the agent.

Art. 2286: Has a right of retention on a thing:

1° The person to whom the thing was handed over until payment of his debt;

2° The person whose outstanding debt results from the contract which binds him to deliver it;

3° The person whose outstanding debt was born at the time of the possession in fact of the thing.

A right of retention is lost through voluntary transfer of possesssion.

Art. 2292: Suretyship is not presumed; it must be express, and one may not extend it beyond the limits within which it was contracted about.

Art. 2332: Debts which have precedence over particular movables are:

(…)

1. The price of unpaid movable effects, where they are still in the possession of the debtor, whether he has bought on credit or not.

                    Where the sale was not made on credit, the seller may even claim back those effects as long as they are in the possession of the buyer, and prevent a re-sale, provided the claim is made within eight days after the delivery, and the effects are in the same condition in which the delivery was made. (…)

Art. 2416: A conventional mortgage may only be agreed upon by way of a notarial deed.

Commercial Code (Code de Commerce) (selection)

Art. L 110-3: With regard to traders, commercial instruments may be proven by any means unless the law specifies otherwise.

Code on Civil Execution Procedures (Code des procedures civiles d’exécution) (selection)

Art. L111-1 (1): Each creditor can, under the conditions laid down by law, force his defaulting debtor to perform his obligations.

Consumer Code (Code de la Consommation) (selection)

Art. L211-1: Contract terms proposed by professionals to consumers must be presented and written in a clear and comprehensible manner.

                    In the event of doubt, they are interpreted in the sense which is most favourable to the consumer. (…)

Art. L212-1: In contracts concluded between a business and a non-business or consumers, clauses which aim to create or result in the creation, to the detriment of the non-professional or the consumer, of a significant imbalance between the rights and obligations of the parties to the contract, are unfair. (…)

Labour Code (Code du travail) (selection)

Art. L 122-2 (2): In case an employment contract is not written or in case it does not contain that it is written for a determinate period, the contract is presumed to have been concluded for an indeterminate time; proof of the contrary is not allowed.

Insurance Code (Code des assurances) (selection)

Art. L 132-5 (1): The life insurance contract and the capitalisation contract must contain clauses that aim, for the security of the parties and the clarity of the contract, to define the purpose of the contract and the respective obligations of the parties, based on information specified by decree of the Conseil d'Etat.