Principles, Definitions and
Model Rules of
European Private Law
Draft Common Frame of Reference (DCFR)
Outline Edition
Prepared by the
Study Group on a European Civil Code
and the
Research Group on EC Private Law (Acquis Group)
Based in part on a revised version of the Principles of European Contract Law
Edited by
Christian von Bar, Eric Clive and Hans Schulte-Nölke
and
Hugh Beale, Johnny Herre, Jérôme Huet, Matthias Storme, Stephen Swann, Paul Varul, Anna Veneziano and Fryderyk Zoll
More texts by the Study Group and the Acquis Group are available at www.law-net.eu.
The print of this edition was supported by the Dieter Fuchs Stiftung in Dissen (Germany).
ISBN 978-3-86653-097-3
The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de.
© 2009 by sellier. european law publishers GmbH, Munich.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the publisher.
The Index was prepared by Rechtsanwältin Dr. Martina Schulz, Pohlheim.
Design: Sandra Sellier, Munich. Production: Karina Hack, Munich. Typesetting: fidus Publikations-Service GmbH, Augsburg. Typeface: Goudy Old Style and Goudy Sans from Linotype. Printing and binding:
Friedrich Pustet KG, Regensburg. Printed on acid-free, non-ageing paper. Printed in Germany.
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Table of contents |
|
Introduction |
1 |
|
Academic contributors and funders |
47 |
|
Principles |
|
57 |
Table of Destinations |
101 |
|
Table of Derivations |
113 |
|
Model Rules |
131 |
|
Book I |
General provisions |
177 |
Book II |
Contracts and other juridical acts |
183 |
Book III |
Obligations and corresponding rights |
229 |
Book IV |
Specific contracts and the rights and |
|
|
obligations arising from them |
277 |
Book V |
Benevolent intervention in another’s affairs |
391 |
Book VI |
Non-contractual liability arising out of |
|
|
damage caused to another |
395 |
Book VII |
Unjustified enrichment |
413 |
Book VIII |
Acquisition and loss of ownership of goods |
421 |
V
Table of contents |
|
|
Book IX |
Proprietary security rights in movable assets |
447 |
Book X |
Trusts |
501 |
Annex |
Definitions |
545 |
Index |
|
571 |
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|
Introduction |
General |
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|
1. |
DCFR and CFR distinguished . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 |
2. |
Revision of the interim outline edition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 |
3. |
Paperback and hardcover editions of the final DCFR |
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 |
4. |
An academic, not a politically authorised text . . . . . . . |
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 |
5. |
About this outline edition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 |
The purposes of the DCFR |
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|
6. |
A possible model for a political CFR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 |
7. |
Legal science, research and education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 |
8. |
A possible source of inspiration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 |
Contents of the DCFR |
|
|
9. |
Principles, definitions and model rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 |
10. |
Meaning of ‘principles’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 |
11. |
Fundamental principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 |
12. |
The approach taken to fundamental principles in the |
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|
Interim Outline Edition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 |
13. |
The approach taken in the Principes directeurs . . . . . . . . |
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 |
14. |
Lessons learned from the Principes directeurs . . . . . . . . . . |
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 |
15. |
Underlying principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 |
16. |
Overriding principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 |
17. |
Protection of human rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 |
18. |
Promotion of solidarity and social responsibility . . . . . . |
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 |
19. |
Preservation of cultural and linguistic diversity . . . . . . . |
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 |
20. |
Protection and promotion of welfare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 |
21. |
Promotion of the internal market . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 |
22. |
Freedom, security, justice and efficiency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 |
23. |
Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 |
24. |
Model rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 |
25. |
Comments and notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 |
1
Introduction
Revision of the interim outline edition
26. Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 27. Book I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 28. Book II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 29. Book III . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 30. Book IV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 31. Books V-VII . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 32. Books VIII-X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 33. Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
The coverage of the DCFR
34. Wider coverage than PECL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 35. Specific contracts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 36. Non-contractual obligations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 37. Matters of movable property law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 38. Matters excluded . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 39. Reasons for the approach adopted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 40. Contract law as part of private law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Structure and language of the DCFR model rules
41. Structure of the model rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 42. Mode of numbering the model rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 43. Ten books . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 44. Books II and III . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 45. Contracts and obligations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
46. Contractual and non-contractual obligations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
47. Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 48. Accessibility and intelligibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
How the DCFR relates to PECL, the SGECC PEL series, the Acquis and the Insurance Contract Group series
49. Based in part on the PECL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 50. Deviations from the PECL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
51. Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
52. Input from stakeholders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
53. Developments since the publication of the PECL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
54. The PEL series . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 55. Deviations from the PEL series . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
2