缺省规则与法律背后的合约

The Sound of Silence:Default Rules and the Contract Structure of Law

功能不同、形态各异的法律制度拥有相同的底层结构,合约就是法律的底层结构;发现并还原法律背后的合约,有助于深化我们对法律的理解。法律制度中的强行法,其强制性低于通常的想象,其数量也少于通常的想象。多数强行法的本来面目属于广谱的默认规则,默认规则在整个法律体系中占了主流。立法原则上应追求广谱,无需追求整齐划一,为少数当事人保留一个缺口,允许他们另行约定或额外证明,可以提高法律回应社会的能力。

Legal systems with different functions and forms have the same deep structure of contract.Discovering and restoring the deep structure of contract can help optimize our understanding of the law.The mandatory laws in the legal system are less coercive and less numerous than we usually think.Most mandatory laws,by nature,belong to the broad-spectrum default rules,which prevail in the entire legal system.Legislation need not be uniform,and in principle,it should pursue broad application and allow some exception in which parties can make additional agreements or additional proof,which can improve the law’s ability to respond to society.