商铺租赁合同的履行障碍及其救济——基于疫情下纠纷处理实践的回顾与反思

Remedies for Non-performance of Commercial Lease Contracts——Some Reviews and Reflections Based on the Jurisprudence under the Epidemic

在“后疫情时代”,对司法实践处理疫情纠纷的回顾和反思依然有重要的理论和实践意义。商铺租赁纠纷是其中最为典型的纠纷类型。面对疫情所导致的商事租赁合同履行障碍,在救济层面主要反映为合同解除和变更制度的规范适用问题。对此,既有审判实践在应对疫情纠纷上积累了一些重要的实践经验,但在对情势变更和不可抗力制度的理解上,尚缺乏对商铺租赁合同的权利义务配置的特殊性作更为审慎的判断。即使在《民法典》背景下,对于承租人能否“违约解除”问题,只能借助诚实信用原则限制出租人滥用权利,例外地允许商铺租赁因重大事由终止合同。对于在履行障碍发生前预付租金的情况,法官可以依情势变更调整租金。但通过对既有审判的梳理可以发现,依据公平原则变更合同存在对私人领域不当干涉的风险。在政策层面,较之减免租金,直接补助、扶持处在经营困境中的小微企业承租人或为未来应对疫情等公共卫生事件时更为可取的方向。

In the“post-epidemic era”,it is still of great theoretical and practical significance to review and reflect on the jurisprudence about the disputes resulting from epidemic.Commercial premises lease disputes are the most typical ones.In the face of the performance obstacles of the commercial premises lease contract caused by the epidemic,the application of the rules about the termination and modification of contract is particularly prominent at the remedy level.In this regard,there is some important practical experience accumulated in the jurisprudence,but in the understanding of the principle of change of situations and force majeure,it is necessary to make more prudent judgment combined with the particularity of the right and obligation allocation of the commercial premises lease contract.In according to the problem of“the right of termination of the parte in breach of contract”,we can only use the principle of good faith to limit the abuse of rights by the lessor and exceptionally allow the commercial premises lease contracts terminated due to significant reasons.As for the cases where rent is paid in advance before the performance obstacles,judges may adjust rent based on the principle of change of situations,but there is a risk of undue interference in the private field when modifying the contract in accordance with the principle of fairness.At the policy level,compared with rent reduction,subsidies and support for small and micro enterprise lessees in operating difficulties seem to be a more desirable direction when confronting public health events such as an epidemic.