民法典恢复“可变更合同”规则之必要性——围绕“重大误解”与“显失公平”案件的实证分析

因重大误解订立的合同或合同显失公平的情形,是否允许当事人请求变更或法院依职权变更,在《民法总则》生效的背景下仍然具有探讨空间。在实践层面,适用可变更合同规则的案例具有一定比重;价值层面,变更权背后反映了多种价值间的折衷权衡;在社会效用层面,可变更合同规则在某些案件中可以取得更好的社会效果。在"变更废弃"的背景下,虽然可以通过"解释先于撤销"和"部分撤销"规则、情事变更原则和减价条款发挥部分替代作用,然而诸种替代解释方案均有局限,不能完全替代可变更合同规则的制度功能。在我国民法典尚未编纂完成之际,《民法总则》尚有修改余地,应抓住机会恢复变更合同的规定。

On the Necessity of Restoring the “Alterable Contract” Rules in the Civil Code——An Empirical Analysis of the Cases of “Significant Misunderstanding” and “Obvious Unfairness”

There is still room for discussion under the background of the General Principles of Civil Law coming into effect,that is when a contract concluded due to a significant misunderstanding,or a contract is of obvious unfairness,whether the parties are allowed to request an alteration or the court could make the alteration by ex officio.At practical level,the case applicable to the alterable contract rules has a certain proportion.At the value level,the right to alter reflects the compromise between multiple values.At the social utility level,this rule could achieve better social effects in some cases.After this rule was abandoned,some of the alternatives could be played through the"explanation before revocation"and the"partial revocation"rule.The principle of change of circumstances and the clause of price reduction can also be used to overcome the loopholes in the law and make the contract substantially change.However,the alternatives have limitations and cannot completely replace the institutional function of changing contract rules.At the time when the Chinese Civil Code has not been compiled,there is still room for revision and opportunities should be seized to restore the provisions for alterable contracts.