论智能合约的私法构造

智能合约是一种通过区块链才能实现的新技术,在技术上是一种可编程的代码程序,在法律上是一种特殊的身份合同。其藉由特定当事人之间形成的共识机制,实现了对当事人身份的识别,促成了智能合约难以逆转的自动执行,并在事实上排除了当事人的合同撤销权,成为跨越合同订立、合同履行两个领域的新型交易机制。智能合约对传统合同法理论带来了巨大冲击和挑战,却不足以支撑"技术自治"或"代码即法律"等学术主张,也不足以否定实定法对智能合约的正当干预。在现行合同法框架下,仍然存在对智能合约及交易作出妥当解释的空间。除此以外,在智能合约的私法构造中,应当引入团体法思想,认可社团主义的自治机能,构建以"信赖保护"为核心的救济机制,实现法律与技术的同步发展。     

All watched over by machines of loving grace: A critical look at smart contracts

Smart contracts are coded parameters written into an immutable distributed ledger called a blockchain. There has been increasing legal interest in the application of these self-executing programs to conduct transactions. Most of the scholarly and practical analysis so far has been taken the claims of this technology being akin to a contract at face value, with legal analysis of contract formation, performance, and enforcement at the forefront of the debate. This article discusses that while smart contracts may pose some interesting legal questions, most of these are irrelevant, and smart contracts should be understood almost strictly from a technical perspective, and that any legal response is entirely dependent on the technical capabilities of the smart contract. The article proposes that smart contracts are not contracts for all practical purposes.     

Having the cake and eating it too: efficient penalty clauses in Common and Civil contract law

In this paper we examine one of the areas where there is a marked difference between Civil and Common contract law, that of the enforcement of liquidated damages and more particularly of penalty clauses. Common law judges are quite reluctant to enforce liquidated damages, especially if they believe that they include penalty clauses which are not enforceable. On the contrary, in almost all European contract laws liquidated damages are readily enforced, as are penalty clauses when they are not manifestly excessive. Although most law and economics scholars have criticized Common law courts for the non-enforcement of penalty clauses, there is a sizable minority of scholars who have defended the Common law “non-enforcement” policy on the ground that penalty clauses are inefficient because they hinder efficient breach. However, and despite the merits of the arguments advanced by advocates of the non-enforcement of penalty clauses, we believe that Common law’s rejection of penalty clauses is inefficient. We further show that the Civil law solution to the problem is not only comparatively more efficient, but that it can also appease the worries of those scholars who are afraid that efficient breaches will be deterred. The solution that Civil law systems give to the problem manages to enforce the parties’ wishes and to avoid deterring efficient breaches. However, we point out that in order for the Civil law systems to take advantage of this superiority, the interpretation of their Civil Codes should be guided by economic analysis and the respect to the wishes of the contracting parties.     

电子商务合同中的若干法律问题

与传统的合同制度比较 ,电子商务合同有不同的特点 ,尤其是在合同的形式、成立及效力等方面。     

公司法的合同路径与公司法规则的正当性

新古典主义经济学的公司合同理论认为,公司是一组合约的联结,多方博弈的结果将创造出内生性合理秩序,不应强行加入外生性制度安排。然而,与普通合约迥然相异的是,公司合同是长期合同和关系合同,存在着诸多漏洞,仅靠合同法并不足以保障各方预期。作为公司合同的模本机制和漏洞补充机制,公司法补充而不是代替了公司参与方的合约安排。因而,立法者只有按照合同的规则和市场的路径来进行公司立法,公司法规则才能获得正当性。     

Where the Action Is: Macro and Micro Justice in Contract Law

In contemporary private law theory the relationship between ‘macro’ theories of distributive justice and the ‘micro’ site of interpersonal transactions remains under-explored. In this paper, I draw on the ‘macro’ theory of justice articulated by John Rawls and offer an account of ‘micro contractual justice’ that helps us understand how the micro domains of contracting introduce particular relational constraints on the infusion of distributive considerations into contract law, resulting in constrained conception of ‘relational Rawlsianism’ operating in contractual domains. My framework provides a bridge between the macro and micro, helping us understand how they are in various senses separate yet interlocking, and also provides a ‘third way’ between all or nothing positions on the place of distributive justice in contract.     

信托合同论——来自信托法适用角度的审视

本文认为,只有导致他益信托设立的信托合同才属于第三人利益合同,一些国家的信托法要求信托合同基本条款具备确定性、另一些国家与地区的信托法却无此要求且这一区别涉及到对合同解释制度的适用;一些国家的信托法确认信托合同为诺成合同、另一些国家与地区的信托法则确认这种合同为要物合同;一些国家的信托法有条件地确认信托合同具有强制执行力、另一些国家与地区的信托法却并未作出如此确认且这一区别涉及到是否允许委托人在订立信托合同后反悔。信托合同当事人与第三人的基本权利义务属于由信托法设定并为信托合同接纳的权利义务,受托人违反信托合同的赔偿责任属于向信托财产承担的责任。     

Contract Law,Relational Contracts,and Reputational Networks in International Trade: An Empirical Investigation into Cross‐Border Contracts in the Software Industry

The following case study investigates the contract enforcement institutions that enable German customers to purchase software in Asia and Eastern Europe. The case study shows that nation‐states are hardly able to generate a legal “shadow” for cross‐border business relations. The same holds true for the so‐called New Lex Mercatoria. Instead, economic actors create their own informal mechanisms. Relational contracts and reputational networks are nowadays far more effective due to developments in the field of information and communication technology. Overall, the importance of formal contract law in international trade is even smaller than is assumed by the classic theory of relational contracts.     

金融衍生交易的法律解释——以合同为中心

金融衍生交易特别是场外衍生交易规则与传统民商法之间的冲突是大陆法系国家普遍存在的问题。衍生工具作为一种新的合同类型,与传统合同的显著区别在于"当前订约、未来履行",从中派生出特殊的履约风险、缔约风险等一系列新问题。对赌、显失公平等法律争议正是基于衍生合约本身的特性而产生;而通常被称为"衍生交易规则"的一整套制度实际上是市场自发创设的防范履约风险的安排。在此,场外衍生交易与场内衍生交易之间没有本质区别,英美法系与大陆法系需要应对同样的问题。通过还原衍生交易规则背后的法律逻辑,可以构筑一个以"合同"为中心的衍生交易法律问题的分析框架,容纳从合同效力、履行、缔约到信息披露、监管等一系列问题。以合同为主要处理对象的民商法应扩张自身的体系以容纳实践中产生的新合同类型,从而为整个金融衍生交易法律规则体系提供坚实的基础。     

论第三方物流合同违约责任的归责原则

20世纪末,第三方物流迅速发展,由传统第三方物流逐渐向现代整合性第三方物流过渡,相应地,第三方物流合同也逐渐从传统的运输、仓储合同向类型结合型的第三方物流合同转化。这种类型结合型的第三方物流合同系无名合同,其裁判依据包括双方之间订立的第三方物流合同本身（包括补充协议、体系解释、交易习惯）和民事法律规范。从双方之间订立的第三方物流合同角度而言,其违约责任多采用的是严格责任归责原则。从民事法律规范的角度来说,基于个案中能否确认货损发生的区间,第三方物流合同适用不同的违约责任的归责原则,或适用《中华人民共和国合同法》总则的严格责任原则,或适用损失确认区间适用法律的违约责任的归责原则。     

中国传统契约中的“契约自由”与“主体平等”——以清水江文书为视角

中国法律传统虽以"公法"为主要特征,强调以身份关系为纽带的"公权力",但在"私法"领域,却并非不重视以自由和平等为基础的"私权利"。在中国传统契约与清水江文书中,均普遍存有关于"契约自由"与"主体平等"这样一种"契约型社会"的私法观念。在契约自由方面,主要通过"二主和同"、"两和立契"等契约语言来体现契约是双方协商一致,达成合意的结果;在主体平等方面,则通过"两共平章"、"平中立约"等用语来表明立约双方具有平等的人格与主体地位。而这样一种注重合意、平等立约的私法观念,以及尊重契约、敬畏契约,通过契约保护自身合法权利的精神,是当今我国法治化建设过程中重要的本土资源与宝贵财富。在提倡尊重契约精神、保护私权利等法治观念的今天,亦能够为我国法治的现代化进程提供历史的和本土的基因。     

Organized futures contracting

Futures markets play an important role in shifting risk and facilitating exchange. Yet despite their growing importance economists do not yet possess a satisfactory theory of the evolution and growth of futures markets.¹ In the law-and-economics literature there is an assumption that parties will seek to specify their obligations completely or else rely on the terms implied by contract law.² The idea that institutions will develop to deal with contractual problems (including the inefficiencies of contract law) has only recently been explored.³ Futures contracts are contracts designed to separate one aspect of exchange that is particularly susceptible to enforcement problems-price volatility. It does this in a way that allows little scope for the intervention of the formal legal rules of contract law since trading in and the resolution of disputes concerning futures contracts are governed by the rules of the exchange. In fact, many futures contracts, especially the newer varieties, may well be deemed wagering contracts and hence null and void under the usual rules of contract law.⁴In this article the structure of organized futures contracting will be examined to see how it deals with the enforcement problems that arise when exchange is subject to the risk of price volatility.⁵     

行政私法理论在合同制度中的展开——论行政私法合同的内涵、性质与界分

面对行政实践中行政机关和法律、法规授权的组织广泛采用新型合同的情况,原有的行政合同和民事合同理论出现了解释上的困境,有必要借鉴行政私法(行为)的理论创造行政私法合同这一概念。这类合同有其独特的内涵和法律特征。行政私法合同综合了公法与私法的双重因素,是具有行政法、私法双重性质的合同。行政私法合同与行政合同、私法合同之间均存在着界限,亟需探讨此类合同的特殊法律问题。     

Relational Contracts, Repeated Interaction and Contract Modification

The paper uses the theory of repeated games to model relational contracts. It demonstrates that there are cases where it is better to leave a long term contract more incomplete than it needs to be in order to secure optimal renegotiation at every point. In this particular class of contract problems, it may be optimal to allow contract modification even in cases where the buyer could have put the modified terms into the original contract.     

Parties’ legal capacity in electronic commerce transactions

The aim of this article is to scrutinise the uncertainty of the Iranian Electronic Commerce Law (IRI ECL 2004) provisions especially on the issue of capacity of parties. Issues of parties’ legal capacity have been resolved in traditional contracts but they are still debatable in electronic commerce transactions. Under UK law, contracts formed by minors for things other than necessities are unenforceable against the minor but enforceable against the merchant (seller) while according to US uniform commercial code in online contracts capacity is not recognized as a legal excuse to nullify a contract. At the mean time, contracts made by incapacitate person is considered null under Iranian law. In spite of technical developments such as digital signatures and smart cards used in verifying the identity and capacity of parties in electronic commerce transactions, the legal certainty on capacity of parties is still questionable. The article also examines the application of traditional contract general rules on parties’ legal capacity in Iran to electronic commerce with reference to EU law. The EU law which is already at an advance stage serves a guide for future development of e-commerce law in Iran.     

“和谐”与“稳定”之辨——劳动者辞职权制度的反思与重构

《劳动合同法》针对“劳动合同短期化”问题扩大无固定期限劳动合同和经济补偿金的适用范围，以此强化劳动关系的稳定性，但同时却没有对劳动者的辞职权进行合理的限制。这种制度设计没有充分照顾到企业和劳动者的利益平衡，忽视了“和谐”的内涵。为此，应当修正目前劳动者辞职权制度对劳动关系矫枉过正的规定，减弱法律的刚性，实现劳动关系的动态平衡，使“和谐”与“稳定”的价值追求相统一。     

浅议《合同法》框架下的智能合约适用问题

智能合约是运行在区块链上能够自动履行合同义务的新型合同,因其具备"自动履行"和"去中心化"等优势,故可降低合同履行成本、提高合同运行效率,但也导致了智能合约难以直接适用现行合同制度的订立规则、生效要件和救济方式等问题。本文从理论角度分析了智能合约的运行过程,通过对合同法理论的解释使智能合约与合同制度相契合;从技术角度分析了智能合约的原理与架构,利用技术手段对其进行修正,使智能合约符合《合同法》的规定。     

Those crazy transaction costs: on the irrelevance of the equivalence between monetary damages and specific performance

The Coase theorem tells us that monetary damages and specific performance remedies for breach of contract have identical effects when transaction costs are zero. This has become a standard part of the literature on the economics of contract law. This note argues that the traditional view is somewhat misguided, as monetary damages and specific performance remedies are unnecessary in a zero transaction costs world. We go on to show how the presence of transaction costs impact the decisions of contracting parties as between the inclusion of liquidated damages clauses in contracts and resorting to litigation that could result in the application of either monetary damages or specific performance remedies.     

两岸关于旅游合同最新立法例的比较研究——以祖国大陆《旅游法》的制定为中心

以祖国大陆《旅游法》的制定与实施为标志,旅游合同于祖国大陆终于实现了规范化。而将其与1999年我国台湾地区"民法"新增有关旅游合同之法规则进行对比,可发现二者在总的立法体例、主要规制的内容上有很大的相似性,但在缔约双方一些具体权利义务的分配上仍有差异。如祖国大陆《旅游法》所规定的旅行社告知义务内容的明文化、因旅游者原因所产生合同解除权的列举式立法、旅游合同违约无过错责任原则的缓和、惩罚性损害赔偿的引入;我国台湾地区"民法"债编规定的旅行社对旅游者购物瑕疵之协助及处理义务。而这些细微的差别也为两岸旅游合同法的相互借鉴与改进预留了空间。