转蝲自王辉律师的个h博客http://lawylaw.ilaw.cn/
以下内容已由中国法律图书有限公司(原法律出版社)和LexisNexis China合作出版Qƈ正式定名为《英文合同解诅R?Understanding English Contracts)。出于内Ҏ(gu)源考虑Q本文仍沿用其在博客上连载的原名《英文合同导诅R,q仅转蝲部分主要内容?/P>
Learning by study must be won;
“Twas ne’er entailed from son to son.
-Gay, Fables, II, ii.
知识惟有学习(fn)获得Q决非世代遗传?/P>
-盖伊Q《寓a?/P>
W一?英文合同概述(General Introduction)
In view of all this, we are making a binding agreement, putting it in writing, and our leaders, our Levites and our priests are affixing their seals to it. (Nehemiah BIBLE NIV)
因这一切的事,我们立确实的U,写在册上。我们的首领Q利未hQ和司都签了名?/P>
【尼西米】《圣l》新国际?/P>
合同Q古U契U?港台C多用此语)Q“契”者即证券Q证明买卖、抵抹{租赁等关系的文书,如契据、房契等。古代典c中常见此语Q《易?p辞》就有“后时圣人易之以书契。”“约”者即共同商定的事,共同议定要遵守的条文Q如和约、条U等。《三国演义》中有“昔高祖U法三章,黎民皆感其d。?/P>
而西方在早在〈〈圣l〉〉中有关于上帝在西乃山与以色列人立U的记蝲。挪亚方舟就是籍着上帝与挪亚的契约而徏造的QBut with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons?wives with thee. (但我要与你立U,你以?qing)你的儿子、妻子和儿媳Q要与你一同进入方舟?
W一?合同与协?Contract and Agreement)
而在Cp合同中,合同一般称为ContractQ协议一般称为Agreement。那么Contract和Agreement是一回事?他们之间又有什么关pd?《中华h民共和国民法通则》第85条规定:(x)“合同是当事Z间设立、变更、终止民事关pȝ协议?A contract shall be an agreement whereby the parties establish, change or terminate their civil relationship)。《中华h民共和国合同法》第二条规定Q“合同是q等M的自然h、法人、其他组l之间设立、变更、终止民事权利义务关pȝ协议?Contracts referred to in this Law are agreements between equal natural persons, legal persons and other organizations for the purpose of establishing, altering and terminating mutual civil rights and obligations)?/P>
国法律整编合同法第二次汇编定义合同为:(x)“合同乃Z个允诺或一l允诺。违反此一允诺Ӟ法律l予救济;或其允诺之行,法律在某些情况下视之Z义务。?A contract is a promise, or a set of promises, for breach of which the law gives a remedy, or the performance of which the law in some way recognizes as a duty.)(RestatementQSecond,
Contracts, Section 1)q一定义在Steven H. Gifts ~著的Law Dictionary被完全引q? 但一般而言QContractQ乃两个以上当事人间h法律U束力之协议Q或׃个以上当事h所Zl具有法律约束力之允诺?A contract is a legally binding agreement between two or more parties or a set of legal binding promises made by one party or more.(G. C. Lindsay, Contract, 3rd ed. 1992) q一表述在L.B. Curzon~撰的Dictionary of Law中概括ؓ(f)“A legally binding agreement creating enforceable obligations.?Chris Turner在其~撰的Contract Law中定义的更ؓ(f)具体明了“A contract is an agreement between two parties by which both are bound in law and which can therefore be enforced in a court or other equivalent forum.”即合同是对合同方h法律上约束力Q可由法院或其他同等辖地强制执行的协议。而在Black’s Law Dictionary(Eighth Edition)对contract 的定义多?:(x)
1. An agreement two or more parties creating obligations that are enforceable or otherwise recognzable at law
2.The writing that set forth such an agreement.
3.引述国法律整编合同法第二次汇编“contract”的定义.
4. Broadly, any legal duty or set of duties not imposed by the law of tort; esp., a duty created by a decree or declaration of a court.
5. The body of law dealing with agreement and exchange.
6. The term of an agreement or any particular term.
7.Loosely, a sale or conveyance. 8. Loosely, an enforceable agreement between two or more parties to do or not to do a thing or a set of things; a compact.
至于agreementQL.B. Curzon的Dictionary of Law定义为:(x)“A consensus of minds, or evidence of such consensus, in spoken or written form, relating to anything done or to be done.”是对已做和待做的有关事宜以口头或书面Ş式做出的相同意思表C或该意思表C的证据。而在Black’s Law Dictionary(Eighth Edition)lAgreement下了两个定义Q一个是“A mutual understanding between two or more persons about their relative duites and obligations regarding past or future performances; a manifestation of mutual assent by two or more persons. ”即双方或多方就q去或将来的相关职责和义务的履行而达成相互的理解;双方或多方相互达成一致的表现形式。另一个是“The Parties?acutal bargain as found in their language or by implication from other circumstances, including course of dealing, usage of trade and course of performance.”即当事人通过语言或其他情形暗C确立的实际U定Q包括交易常例、N易习(fn)惯以?qing)行惯例。在ENGLISH-CHINISE BILINGUAL LAW DICTIONARY (2nd ed.)中对agreement作出了如下解释:(x)document setting out the contractual terms agreed between two parties or contract between two parties where one party makes an offer, and the other party accepts it.
协议Q协定,合同(列出双方当事人同意和U定条g的文?Contract(合同)和Agreement(协议)到底能不能相互替换呢?让我们来看看英文合同相关书籍和词典的说法。Chris Turner在其Contract Law中是q样阐述合同的成立:(x)“There are three key ingredients to formation(of contracts): agreement-based on mutuality over the terms, agreement exists when a valid acceptance follows a valid offer; consideration-given by both sides, the quid proquo, and the proof that the bargain exists; intention to create legal relations-since a contract is legally enforceable, unlike mere gratuitous promises. 卛_同成立的三个要gQ协?Z要约与承诺Ş成对条款的相互一致而存?、约?双方付出的对价及(qing)对h(hun)存在的证?和设立法律关pȝ意愿?合同h法律上的执行力,不同于纯_的无偿赠予的允?q里也是用agreement来解释contract的,认ؓ(f)contract(合同)是一U符合一定条件的agreement(协议)?/P>
在英语法律用语中虽然多用“agreement”来解释“contract”,其实也有偶用“contract”解释“agreement”的情ŞQ如QAgreement,?2) A contract (The Law Dictionary) 甚至有在同一句中交替使用的实例,如:(x)If the contract contains an innocent mistake, you can get out of the agreement if the mistake is important. (What Should I Know About Contracts, The State Bar of California, 2 Edi. 1984), q有更ؓ(f)明确的:(x) Agreement. Synonym for Contract (Robert LeRoy & Kenneth A. Buths, Business Law and Taxes, “Glossary? 1984)
而在Black’s Law Dictionary对agreement的注释中也能看到“The term’agreement?frequently as synymous with the word”contract? is really an expression greater breath of meaning and less technicality. Every contract is an agreement,; but not every agreement is a contract. In its colloquial sense, the term ‘agreement?would include any arrangement between two or more persons intended to affect their relations (whether legal or otherwise) to each other. An accepted invitation to dinner, for example, would be an agreement in this sense; but it would not be a contract, because it would neither be intended to create, nor would it in fact create, any legal obligation between the parties to it. Further, even an agreement which is intended to affect the obligations of the parties does not necessarily amount to a contract in the strict sense of the term. For instance, a conveyance of land or a gift of a chattel, though involving an agreement is ?not a contract; because its primary legal operation is to effect a transfer of property, and not to create an obligation.?2 Stephen’s Commmentaries on the laws of England 5 (L. Crispin Warmington ed., 21st ed. 1950).
“An agreement, as the courts have said, ‘is nothing more than a mannefestation of mutual assent?by two or more legally competent persons to one another?by two or more legally competent persons to one another. Agreementis in some respects a broader term than contract, or even than bargain or promise. It covers excluded sales, gifts, and other transfers of property.?Samuel Williston, A Treaties on the Law of Contracts at 6
(Walter H.E. Jaeger ed., 3d ed.1957).
lg所qͼ我们不难看出Q汉语的法律用语仅用协议来解释合同,而英语的法律用语往往不很严格Q多用Agreement解释Contract, 但也有用Contract解释Agreement的情? 虽说大多情况Contract与Agreement有所区别Q有时候两者还可以作ؓ(f)同义词互换用。可以说contract都是协议Q但协议不一定就是Contract。但广义的协议和合同来Ԍq是有区?的:(x)从成立的宗旨上看Q协议十分宽泛不囿于Z当事人间形成法律或其他关p,即便是ؓ(f)影响当事人的义务也未必Ş成严格意义上的合同关p,如不动转让或动产赠与。从内容、条ƾ上看,合同较ؓ(f)具体、详,着g微观Q而协议则较ؓ(f)原则、粗疏,致力于宏观?/P>
实践中往往合作方就某一目达成协议Ҏ(gu)兛_则问题作出约定,然后在此基础上签订合同,再全面明各具体的l节。从涉及(qing)范围上看Q合同的标的往往比较单一集中Q也很明?通常都是一事一议,׃ZQ而协议的标的往往比较q泛;一大型项目的协议往往包括或分解成若干个具体的合同?
从书写格式上看,合同已基本格式化了,大家可以看到许多的合同范?而协议的格式相对灉|一些,没有什么固定的格式。而狭义的协议和合同ƈ无分别,只是用语上和?fn)惯上的U呼而已?/P>
W二?合同的种cM名称(Categories and Titles)
一份英文法律文? 到底是不是英文合? p看它的内Ҏ(gu)否符合合同的要求。一般而言合同不外乎包括h、事、时、地、物五大要素Q也是4W1H (Who, When, Where, What, How),如果你手上的文g内容包括了这五项要素而且{v生效Q该文g应该具有了合同的性质Q而不论它是以何面目出现的。常见的英文合同名称可分Z下四大类Q?/P>
一、合同、协?Contract; Agreement)
二、意向书(Letter of Intent)
三、契U?Covenant, Indenture, Deed, CompactQProtocol)
四、其他书?Letter; Waiver; Guaranty; Power of Attorney)
W二?英文合同的特?Features of English Contracts)
Form follows function.
-motto of the Bauhaus school of architecture
形式服从功能
-鲍豪斯徏{学院校?/P>
与基p相比Q作Z业性极强的语言Q英文合同的用语不同于日常语aQ具有显著的特点。首先,句子冗长而且复杂、似乎M找不到句P用词偏僻Q晦涩难读,不易理解。其ơ,英文合同中往往沿用拉丁语,法律术语Q跟中文的文a文似的,着实是佶屈qQo(h)人痛苦不堪。再ơ,׃属于专业p的范_(d)p合同必然涉及(qing)法律斚w理解Q阅读者除了语a本n的能力外Q对于法律也应具备一定的素质。这是所有专业英语的共性,是需相应的专业知识,q方面本文恕不多a。目前国外,特别是美国要求法律文件的格式和语a应当C化的呼声愈来愈强烈。Robert E. Swindle早在国1980q出版的
The Business Communicator一书中写刎ͼ(x)" ...legal and quasilegal documents can and are being written in everyday language. Several leading companies are rewriting their legal forms voluntarily, and the State of New York recently passed a law requiring that businesses write consumer contracts in nontechnical language. Additionally, the President of the United States has directed all administrative agencies to write future regulations in what he termed plain English for a change." (大意是说法律和准法律性文件能用日常语a书就Q而且Z也正在这样做。几家大公司自愿重新赯他们的法律文书,U约州最q也......