Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Certain Issues Concerning the Application of the Contract Law of the People's Republic of China (Ⅱ)

最高人民法院关于适用《中华人民共和国合同法》若干问题的解释（二）

 

Promulgating Institution:        Supreme People's Court

Document Number:        Fa Shi [2009] No. 5

Promulgating Date:         04/24/2009

Effective Date:        05/13/2009

颁布机关:       最高人民法院

文    号:     法释[2009]5号

颁布时间:       04/24/2009

实施时间:       05/13/2009

 

(Adopted at the 1462nd Meeting of the Trial Committee of the Supreme People's Court on February 9, 2009)

（2009年2月9日最高人民法院审判委员会第1462次会议通过）

In order to ensure proper trial of cases involving contract disputes, and in accordance with the Contract Law of the People's Republic of China, the following interpretations on certain issues concerning the application of the Contract Law are hereby issued:

   为了正确审理合同纠纷案件，根据《中华人民共和国合同法》的规定，对人民法院适用合同法的有关问题作出如下解释:

1. Conclusion of the Contract

一、合同的订立

  Article 1   In case of a dispute between the parties concerned over the conclusion of a contract, if the people's court can ascertain the title or name of the parties, the subject matter and the amount of the contract, such contract, as a general rule, shall be deemed to have been concluded, unless otherwise provided by laws and regulations or agreed upon by the parties.

Where a contract fails to contain provisions on any issues other than those specified in the preceding paragraph, and the parties fail to reach an agreement thereon, the people's court shall make a determination thereof in accordance with the relevant provisions of Articles 61, 62 and 125 of the Contract Law.

    第一条 当事人对合同是否成立存在争议,人民法院能够确定当事人名称或者姓名、标的和数量的,一般应当认定合同成立。但法律另有规定或者当事人另有约定的除外。

   对合同欠缺的前款规定以外的其他内容,当事人达不成协议的,人民法院依照合同法第六十一条、第六十二条、第一百二十五条等有关规定予以确定。

  Article 2   Where the parties concerned fail to conclude a written or oral contract, but are presumed to have the intent to conclude a contract from their civil acts, the people's court may determine that a contract is concluded in "any other forms" as prescribed in Paragraph 1 of Article 10 of the Contract Law, unless otherwise provided by the law.

    第二条 当事人未以书面形式或者口头形式订立合同,但从双方从事的民事行为能够推定双方有订立合同意愿的,人民法院可以认定是以合同法第十条第一款中的“其他形式”订立的合同。但法律另有规定的除外。

  Article 3   Where the person offering a reward publicly declares to pay a person who performs certain acts, and the person who performs such acts requests payment from the person offering a reward, the people's court shall uphold the claim pursuant to the law, except in cases where the reward offering falls under the circumstances specified in Article 52 of the Contract Law.

    第三条 悬赏人以公开方式声明对完成一定行为的人支付报酬,完成特定行为的人请求悬赏人支付报酬的,人民法院依法予以支持。但悬赏有合同法第五十二条规定情形的除外。

  Article 4   Where the contract is concluded in written form and the place of execution stipulated in the contract is different from the place where the contract is actually signed or sealed, the people's court shall determine the stipulated place as the place of execution of the contract; where the place of execution is not stipulated in the contract and the two parties concerned sign or seal the contract in different places, the people's court shall determine the place where the contract is most recently signed or sealed as the place of execution.

    第四条 采用书面形式订立合同,合同约定的签订地与实际签字或者盖章地点不符的,人民法院应当认定约定的签订地为合同签订地;合同没有约定签订地,双方当事人签字或者盖章不在同一地点的,人民法院应当认定最后签字或者盖章的地点为合同签订地。

  Article 5   Where concluding a contract in the form of an instrument of contract, the parties concerned shall sign or seal the contract. Where the parties affix their fingerprints on the instrument of contract, the people's court shall determine that such fingerprint has the same legal effect as a signature or seal.

    第五条 当事人采用合同书形式订立合同的,应当签字或者盖章。当事人在合同书上摁手印的,人民法院应当认定其具有与签字或者盖章同等的法律效力。

  Article 6   Where the party providing the standard clauses, at the time of conclusion, adopts the word, symbol, character style or other special marks that are sufficient to invite the other party's attention to the exemptible and restrictive clause regarding its liability and render explanations of such clauses upon the other party's request, the people's court shall determine that the former party has "adopted the reasonable manner" as specified in Article 39 of the Contract Law.

The party that provides the standard clause shall bear the burden of proof to show that it has already fulfilled the obligations of reasonable reminder and explanation.

    第六条 提供格式条款的一方对格式条款中免除或者限制其责任的内容,在合同订立时采用足以引起对方注意的文字、符号、字体等特别标识,并按照对方的要求对该格式条款予以说明的,人民法院应当认定符合合同法第三十九条所称“采取合理的方式”。

   提供格式条款一方对已尽合理提示及说明义务承担举证责任。

  Article 7   The people's court may determine any of the following circumstances as the "trade practices" mentioned in the Contract Law provided such circumstances do not violate the mandatory provisions of the laws and administrative regulations:

(1) Practice which is generally adopted in the place where the trading is conducted or by a certain field or industry, and which is known or ought to be known by the other party to the trading at the time of the conclusion of contract;

(2) Customary practice that is frequently adopted by both parties.

With respect to the trading practices, the party that puts forward the claim shall bear the burden of proof.

    第七条 下列情形,不违反法律、行政法规强制性规定的,人民法院可以认定为合同法所称“交易习惯”:

   (一)在交易行为当地或者某一领域、某一行业通常采用并为交易对方订立合同时所知道或者应当知道的做法;

   (二)当事人双方经常使用的习惯做法。

   对于交易习惯,由提出主张的一方当事人承担举证责任。

  Article 8   With respect to a contract which shall not become effective until the completion of approval or registration procedures as required by laws and administrative regulations, if the party who is under the obligation of going through the procedures of applying for approval or registration fails to complete such procedures, such party shall be deemed to have committed "any other act in violation of the principle of good faith" specified in Item (3) of Article 42 of the Contract Law and the people's court may order the opposite party to independently go through the relevant procedures based on the specific circumstances of the case and at the request of the opposite party. The other party shall be liable for compensation for the resulting expenses and the actual losses incurred by the opposite party.

    第八条 依照法律、行政法规的规定经批准或者登记才能生效的合同成立后，有义务办理申请批准或者申请登记等手续的一方当事人未按照法律规定或者合同约定办理申请批准或者未申请登记的，属于合同法第四十二条第（三）项规定的“其他违背诚实信用原则的行为”，人民法院可以根据案件的具体情况和相对人的请求，判决相对人自己办理有关手续;对方当事人对由此产生的费用和给相对人造成的实际损失，应当承担损害赔偿责任。

2. Validity of the Contract

二、合同的效力

  Article 9   Where the party providing the standard clauses violates the provisions of Paragraph 1 of Article 39 of the Contract Law on the obligation of reminder and explanation, resulting in the failure of the other party to pay attention to the exemptible and restrictive clauses regarding its liability, the people's court shall uphold the request of the other party for the revocation of such standard clauses.

    第九条 提供格式条款的一方当事人违反合同法第三十九条第一款关于提示和说明义务的规定,导致对方没有注意免除或者限制其责任的条款,对方当事人申请撤销该格式条款的,人民法院应当支持。

  Article 10   Where the party providing the standard clauses violates the provisions of Paragraph 1 of Article 39 of the Contract Law and falls under any of the circumstances specified in Article 40 of the Contract Law, the people's court shall determine that the standard clauses are invalid.

    第十条 提供格式条款的一方当事人违反合同法第三十九条第一款的规定,并具有合同法第四十条规定的情形之一的,人民法院应当认定该格式条款无效。

  Article 11   The manifestation of intent for ratification shall become effective when it reaches the opposite party and the contract shall become effective upon conclusion in accordance with the provisions of Articles 47 and 48 of the Contract Law.

    第十一条 根据合同法第四十七条、第四十八条的规定,追认的意思表示自到达相对人时生效,合同自订立时起生效。

  Article 12   With respect to a contract entered into by an unauthorized agent in the name of a principal, if such principal has already commenced with the performance of the contractual obligation, such contract shall be deemed to have been ratified.

    第十二条 无权代理人以被代理人的名义订立合同,被代理人已经开始履行合同义务的,视为对合同的追认。

  Article 13   Where a principal has borne the obligation arising from the effective agency in accordance with the provisions of Article 49 of the Contract Law, the principal may claim compensation from the unauthorized agent for the loss caused by the act of agency.

    第十三条 被代理人依照合同法第四十九条的规定承担有效代理行为所产生的责任后,可以向无权代理人追偿因代理行为而遭受的损失。

  Article 14   The "mandatory provisions" specified in Item 5 of Article 52 of the Contract Law refers to mandatory provisions concerning validity of contracts.

    第十四条 合同法第五十二条第(五)项规定的“强制性规定”,是指效力性强制性规定。

  Article 15   Where the seller concludes multiple sales contracts for the same subject matter and none of the contracts fall under any of the circumstances for invalidity specified in Article 52 of the Contract Law, the people's court shall uphold the buyer's request for holding the seller liable for breach of contract on account of failure to obtain the ownership of the subject matter as agreed upon in the contract.

    第十五条 出卖人就同一标的物订立多重买卖合同，合同均不具有合同法第五十二条规定的无效情形，买受人因不能按照合同约定取得标的物所有权，请求追究出卖人违约责任的，人民法院应予支持。

3. Performance of Contract

三、合同的履行

  Article 16   The people's court may list the third parties specified in Articles 64 and 65 of the Contract Law as the third parties who have no independent claims based on the specific circumstance of the case, but it has no authority to list them as defendants of the contract lawsuit or as third parties who have independent claims.

    第十六条 人民法院根据具体案情可以将合同法第六十四条、第六十五条规定的第三人列为无独立请求权的第三人,但不得依职权将其列为该合同诉讼案件的被告或者有独立请求权的第三人。

  Article 17   Where a creditor files a lawsuit of subrogation against a party outside China as the defendant, the people's court shall determine the jurisdiction in accordance with the provisions of Article 241 of the Civil Procedures Law of the People's Republic of China.

    第十七条 债权人以境外当事人为被告提起的代位权诉讼,人民法院根据《中华人民共和国民事诉讼法》第二百四十一条的规定确定管辖。

  Article 18   Where the debtor waives its undue creditor's rights or the security for the creditor's rights, or maliciously extends the term of performance of the due creditor's right, thus causing harm to the creditor, the people's court shall uphold the creditor's request on the right of rescission filed in its lawsuit in accordance with the provisions of Article 74 of the Contract Law.

    第十八条 债务人放弃其未到期的债权或者放弃债权担保,或者恶意延长到期债权的履行期,对债权人造成损害,债权人依照合同法第七十四条的规定提起撤销权诉讼的,人民法院应当支持。

  Article 19   To determine a price as "a low price evidently unreasonable" as specified in Article 74 of the Contract Law, the people's court shall make such determination on the basis of the judgment of the ordinary operators in the place where the trading is conducted, by referring to the guiding price established by the pricing department or the market trading price in the trading place at the time of trading and through a comprehensive consideration of the other relevant factors.

Where the transfer price is lower than 70 percent of the guiding price or the market trading price in the trading place at the time of trading, it may be generally deemed as a low price evidently unreasonable; where the transfer price is higher than the guiding price or the market trading price by 30 percent or more, it may be deemed as a high price evidently unreasonable.

Where the debtor purchases others' property at a high price evidently unreasonable, the people's court may rescind such purchase upon an application by the creditor by referring to the provisions of Article 74 of the Contract Law.

    第十九条 对于合同法第七十四条规定的“明显不合理的低价”,人民法院应当以交易当地一般经营者的判断,并参考交易当时交易地的物价部门指导价或者市场交易价,结合其他相关因素综合考虑予以确认。

   转让价格达不到交易时交易地的指导价或者市场交易价百分之七十的,一般可以视为明显不合理的低价;对转让价格高于当地指导价或者市场交易价百分之三十的,一般可以视为明显不合理的高价。

   债务人以明显不合理的高价收购他人财产,人民法院可以根据债权人的申请,参照合同法第七十四条的规定予以撤销。

  Article 20   Where the payment by the debtor is not sufficient to satisfy all the debts of the same type owed to the same creditor, the outstanding debt that accrued first in time shall have the priority to be repaid; where several debts become due, the debt that does not have sufficient security or has the lowest amount of security for the creditor shall have the priority to be repaid; where security for all debts is equivalent, the debt that is of greater amount shall have the priority to be repaid; where the debts have the same burden, the debts shall be repaid according to the sequence of time when the debts become due; where the debts become due at the same time, the debts shall be proportionately repaid, except where the creditor and debtor have an agreement stipulating the debts to be repaid or the order of priority for repayment.

    第二十条 债务人的给付不足以清偿其对同一债权人所负的数笔相同种类的全部债务,应当优先抵充已到期的债务;几项债务均到期的,优先抵充对债权人缺乏担保或者担保数额最少的债务;担保数额相同的,优先抵充债务负担较重的债务;负担相同的,按照债务到期的先后顺序抵充;到期时间相同的,按比例抵充。但是,债权人与债务人对清偿的债务或者清偿抵充顺序有约定的除外。

  Article 21   The debtor shall, in addition to the principal debts, pay the accruing interest and expense. Where the payment is not sufficient to pay off the debts in full and there is no agreement between the parties concerned, the people's court shall arrange the repayment according to the following order of priority:

(1) relevant expense for realization of the creditor's rights;

(2) interest;

(3) principal debts.

    第二十一条 债务人除主债务之外还应当支付利息和费用，当其给付不足以清偿全部债务时，并且当事人没有约定的，人民法院应当按照下列顺序抵充:

   （一）实现债权的有关费用;

   （二）利息;

   （三）主债务。

4. Termination of Contractual Rights and Obligations

四、合同的权利义务终止

  Article 22   Where a concerned party violates the obligation specified in Article 92 of the Contract Law, causing losses to the other party, the people's court shall uphold the other party's claim for compensation with respect to its actual losses incurred.

    第二十二条 当事人一方违反合同法第九十二条规定的义务,给对方当事人造成损失,对方当事人请求赔偿实际损失的,人民法院应当支持。

  Article 23   With respect to the due creditor's right that may be offset in accordance with the provisions of Article 99 of the Contract Law, if the parties concerned agree not to offset such right, the people's court may determine that the agreement is valid.

    第二十三条 对于依照合同法第九十九条的规定可以抵销的到期债权,当事人约定不得抵销的,人民法院可以认定该约定有效。

  Article 24   Where a concerned party objects to the dissolution of the contract or the offsetting of debts, and raises an objection by bringing a lawsuit before the people's court after the expiration of the agreed objection period, the people's court shall not uphold the claim; where no objection period is agreed upon between the parties concerned and a concerned party brings a lawsuit before the people's court after three months from the date of arrival of the notice on the dissolution of the contract or the offset of the debts, the people's court shall not uphold the claim.

    第二十四条 当事人对合同法第九十六条、第九十九条规定的合同解除或者债务抵销虽有异议,但在约定的异议期限届满后才提出异议并向人民法院起诉的,人民法院不予支持;当事人没有约定异议期间,在解除合同或者债务抵销通知到达之日起三个月以后才向人民法院起诉的,人民法院不予支持。

  Article 25   Where the debtor places the subject matter of the contract or the income from auction or sale of the subject matter in escrow with the escrow department pursuant to the provisions of Article 101 of the Contract Law, the people's court shall determine that the escrow is established.

Where the escrow is established, the debtor shall be deemed to have fulfilled its obligation within the scope of escrow.

    第二十五条 依照合同法第一百零一条的规定,债务人将合同标的物或者标的物拍卖、变卖所得价款交付提存部门时,人民法院应当认定提存成立。

   提存成立的,视为债务人在其提存范围内已经履行债务。

  Article 26   Where, after the conclusion of the contract, the objective situation undergoes significant changes that were unforeseeable by the concerned parties at the time of conclusion of the contract, and such changes are not caused by force majeure and do not constitute commercial risks, and to continue with the performance of the contract will be obviously unfair to one concerned party or will not realize the purpose for which such contract was concluded, the people's court shall, upon the request for modifying or terminating the contract by a concerned party , determine whether to modify or terminate the contract on the basis of the principles of fairness and by considering the actual situation prevalent in the case.

    第二十六条 合同成立以后客观情况发生了当事人在订立合同时无法预见的、非不可抗力造成的不属于商业风险的重大变化，继续履行合同对于一方当事人明显不公平或者不能实现合同目的，当事人请求人民法院变更或者解除合同的，人民法院应当根据公平原则，并结合案件的实际情况确定是否变更或者解除。

5. Liability for Breach of Contract

五、违约责任

  Article 27   Where a concerned party requests the people's court, by counterclaim or defense, to adjust the liquidated damages in accordance with the provisions of Paragraph 2 of Article 114 of the Contract Law, the people's court shall uphold such request.

    第二十七条 当事人通过反诉或者抗辩的方式,请求人民法院依照合同法第一百一十四条第二款的规定调整违约金的,人民法院应予支持。

  Article 28   Where a concerned party requests the people's court to increase the liquidated damages in accordance with Paragraph 2 of Article 114 of the Contract Law, the amount of the liquidated damages after the increase shall not exceed the sum of actual losses. Where the party concerned requests the other party to compensate for the losses after the increase of the liquidated damages, the people's court shall not uphold such request.

    第二十八条 当事人依照合同法第一百一十四条第二款的规定,请求人民法院增加违约金的,增加后的违约金数额以不超过实际损失额为限。增加违约金以后,当事人又请求对方赔偿损失的,人民法院不予支持。

  Article 29   Where a party alleges that the agreed amount of liquidated damages is excessively high and requests an appropriate reduction thereof, the people's court shall, according to the principles of equity and good faith, take a measurement and render a decision on the basis of actual losses and by taking into consideration such comprehensive factors as the performance of contract, fault of the parties concerned and anticipated profits.

Where the amount of the liquidated damages agreed upon by the parties concerned exceeds 30 percent of the losses incurred, it may be generally deemed as "excessively higher than the loss caused by the breach" specified in Paragraph 2 of Article 114 of the Contract Law.

    第二十九条 当事人主张约定的违约金过高请求予以适当减少的，人民法院应当以实际损失为基础，兼顾合同的履行情况、当事人的过错程度以及预期利益等综合因素，根据公平原则和诚实信用原则予以衡量，并作出裁决。

   当事人约定的违约金超过造成损失的百分之三十的，一般可以认定为合同法第一百一十四条第二款规定的“过分高于造成的损失”。

6. Supplementary Provisions

六、附则

  Article 30   Where a dispute arises from a contract that has been concluded after the implementation of the Contract Law, and such dispute has not been conclusively adjudged before the implementation of this Interpretation, the provisions of this Interpretation shall apply; where such dispute has been conclusively adjudged before the implementation of this Interpretation and a party concerned applies for retrial, or a decision of retrial is made according to trial supervision procedure, the provisions of this Interpretation shall not apply.

    第三十条 合同法施行后成立的合同发生纠纷的案件，本解释施行后尚未终审的，适用本解释;本解释施行前已经终审，当事人申请再审或者按照审判监督程序决定再审的，不适用本解释。