未经批准合同的效力状态与责任认定研究——基于对《合同编(草案)》第二百九十四条的规范修正

Research on the Validity Status and Liability Confirmation of Unapproved Contracts ——Based on the Normative Amendment to Article 294 of Contract Code (Draft)

《合同编(草案)》第二百九十四条是对《合同法》第四十四条的继受与改造,限于立法语言自身的局限性,未经批准的合同在效力状态和责任认定方面,仍存较大争议。批准行为的性质,应属“形成私法权的行政审批行为”。批准是合同的特别生效要件而非成立要件,但未经批准前合同在效力上应属于未生效而非无效,如合同最终未获批准,则其效力状态归为无效。基于诚实信用原则,违反报批义务致使合同未生效或无效的,违约方应承担缔约过失责任。缔约过失责任的承担应限定为信赖利益,并以履行利益为限。为回应理论与实践层面存在的问题,建议将《合同编(草案)》第二百九十四条第二款中的“不生效”修改为“未生效”,将“对方可以请求其承担违反该义务的责任”修改为“对方可以请求其承担因过错致使合同未生效的责任”,并删除“以及相关条款”。

Article 294 of the Contract Code (Draft) is the succession and transformation of Article 44 of the Contract Law.Due to the limitations of the legislative language itself,there is still a great controversy over the validity and liability of the unapproved contract.The nature of the act of approval should belong to the act of administrative examination and approval which forms the right of private law.Approval is a special requirement for the validity of a contract but not for its establishment.However,the validity of a contract before approval should be non-valid rather than invalid.If the contract is not finally approved,its validity will be invalid.Based on the principle of good faith,if the contract is not valid or invalid due to the breach of the obligation to submit approval,the breaching party shall be liable for contracting negligence.The liability for contracting negligence should be limited to the interests of trust and performance.In response to the problems in theory and practice,it is suggested that the term “non-valid” in article 294,paragraph 2,of the Draft Contract Code should be amended to “non-entry into force”,and that “the other party may request it to bear the responsibility for breach of the obligation” to read “the other party may request it to bear the responsibility for failure of the contract due to its fault”,and delete “and the relevant clauses”.