股东协议的效力认定研究

Study on the Validity Determination of Shareholder Agreements

股东协议是公司自治的产物,具有调节公司内部权力结构和利益关系的功能。该文通过对产联公司案的两审裁判文书进行对比分析来查明司法实践的争议,聚焦于对股东协议价值功能认定的分歧。股东协议是实现股东自治的重要形式,具有存在的现实必要性,法院应肯定股东协议的独特价值,在个案中具体分析其效力。具体而言,法院既要运用合同效力认定的一般规则对股东协议进行审查,重点审查其是否违反公司法的强制性规定;又要基于股东协议的组织属性,审查股东协议是否损害第三人利益、是否与公司章程相冲突,从而确定股东协议的最终效力。

Shareholder agreements are the product of corporate autonomy and can regulate the internal power structure and interest relationship of a company. By comparing the judgment documents of the court of the first instance and that of the second instance in the case of Chanlian Co., Ltd., this paper finds out the disagreement in judicial practice and focuses on the dispute over the determination of the value function of shareholder agreements. Shareholder agreements are an important form to realize shareholders’ autonomy, which has a practical necessity. The court should affirm the unique value of shareholder agreements and analyze their validity in specific cases. To be specific, the court should review the shareholder agreement by using the general rules of validity determination of contracts and focus on whether it violates the mandatory provisions of corporate law. Besides, based on the organizational attribute of the shareholder agreement, the court should also review whether the shareholder agreement damages the interests of the third party and whether it conflicts with the company’s articles of association, so as to determine the final validity of the shareholder agreement.