论情事变更与不可抗力之规范领域及其界分

On the Scope and Demarcation of the Change of Circumstances and Force Majeure

《民法典》在处理情事变更与不可抗力的关系上采取了全新的路径,但在其制度设计上尚存在不足之处,因此有必要对情事变更构成要件及法律效果进行解释论上的重构以发挥其规范功能。新冠疫情爆发导致的合同履行障碍为探究二者之规范领域界分提供了大量实践素材。在路径选择上应当首先明确不可抗力可以导致情事变更之适用,其次以“合同客观上履行不能”作为不可抗力是否发生免责效力的分界点,最后以“合同目的完全不能实现”作为区别法定解除权制度的判断标准。在适用上应对因果关系严格把握避免契约被随意破坏,同时对类型化的合同区别对待以实现个案正义,关于“公平原则”的把握应当坚持其隐含的经济等价性考量。最后,《民法典》时代下是否仍要坚持情事变更适用上的补充性特点,值得反思。

The Civil Code takes a new way to deal with the relationship between the change of circumstances and force majeure,but there are still some shortcomings in its system design.Therefore,it is necessary to reconstruct the constitutive requirements and legal effect of the change of circumstances in order to fulfil its normative function.The failure of the contract performance caused by the outbreak of COVID-19 has provided a lot of practical materials for the exploration of the normative domain of the two parties.In path selection,we should first make clear the application of force majeure which can lead to the change of circumstances,then take"objectively unable to perform the contract"as the dividing point of whether the force majeure has the effect of exemption,and finally take"the purpose of the contract cannot be achieved"as the judgment standard to distinguish the legal rescission right system.In regard to application,we should pay enough attention to causality to avoid the contract from being destroyed at will.At the same time,we should treat different types of contracts to achieve the justice of individual cases,and adhere to the implicit consideration of economic equivalence in the grasp of"fairness principle".Finally,in the era of the Civil Code,it is worth reflecting whether we should still adhere to the supplementary characteristics of the application of change of circumstances.