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SectionIIIContractlawfortheInternationalSaleofGoodsMajorIssuestoBeCovered•DefinitionandFormofContract•ValidityandFormationofContract•ContentsofaContract•BreachofContractandRemediesPartIFormationandValidityofContractsIDefinitionandFormofContract1.DefinitionofContract合同/协议A)AmericanLaw:“Apromiseorasetofpromises,forbreachofwhichthelawgivesaremedy,ortheperformanceofwhichthelawinsomewayrecognizesasaduty.”B)China’sContractLaw:“Acontractisanagreementestablishing,modifyingandterminatingthecivilrightsandobligationsbetweennaturalpersons,legalpersonsorotherorganizations.”本法所称合同是平等主体的自然人、法人、其他组织之间设立、变更、终止民事权利义务关系的协议。2.FormofContract合同形式A)UKLaw:Intheearlyperiod,itwasrequiredthatcontractbeinwriting.1906revisedSalesofGoodsActrepealedthein-writingrequirement.B)CISG:“Acontractofsaleneednotbeconcludedinorevidencedbywritingandisnotsubjecttoanyotherrequirementsastoform.Itmaybeprovedbyanymeans,includingwitnesses.”C)UNIDROIDPICC:almostthesamewithCISGD)China’sContractLaw(Article10):“Thepartiesmay,whenmakingacontract,usewrittenform,verbalformoranyotherform.”当事人订立合同，有书面形式、口头形式和其他形式。“Thewrittenformshallbeadoptediflawsoradministrativeregulationssorequire.Thewrittenformshallbeadoptedifthepartiessoagree.”法律、行政法规规定采用书面形式的，应当采用书面形式。当事人约定采用书面形式的，应当采用书面形式。II.ValidityandFormationofContract1.Essentialelementsofavalidcontracta)anagreementbetweenparties(offerandacceptance).协议=要约+承诺b)legallysufficientconsideration（对价）c)legalcapacity缔约能力d)notforillegalpurpose/contrarytopublicpolicy.e)intentiontocreatelegalrelations2.Offer要约1)theconceptofofferAnofferisaproposalbyonepersontoanotherindicatinganintentiontoenterintoacontractunderspecifiedterms.TheSecondRestatementofContracts:“Anofferisamanifestationofwillingnesstoenterintoabargain,somadeastojustifyanotherpersoninunderstandingthathisassenttothatbargainisinvitedandwillconcludeit.”2)RequirementsofOffera)Anoffermustbeaddressedtooneormorespecificpersons.b)anoffermustbesufficientlydefiniteandindicatestheintentionoftheofferortobebound.(Definiteness:descriptionofgoods,expresslyorimplicitlyspecifiesthequantityandpriceetc.)3)LapseofOffer要约的失效a)Onthedeatheitheroftheofferorortheoffereebeforeacceptance.b)Bynon-acceptancewithinthetimeprescribedforacceptance.c)Whennotimeforacceptanceisprescribed,bynon-acceptancewithinareasonabletime.(Howtodecidereasonabletime?)d)Expressrejection.明确拒绝e)Counteroffer.反要约f)Revocationbytheofferor.撤销/撤回要约4)Revocationofoffer要约的撤销a)Definition:Theofferornotifiestheoffereeoftheinvalidityoftheoffersoastobefreefromitbeforeacceptanceoftheofferee.b)Englishlaw:Anoffermayberevokedatanytimebeforeacceptance.c)CISG:Anoffermayberevokediftherevocationreachestheoffereebeforehehasdispatchedanacceptance;Anoffercan’tberevoked(a)ifitindicatesthatitisirrevocableor(b)ifitwasreasonablefortheoffereetorelyontheofferasbeingirrevocableandtheoffereehasactedinrelianceontheoffer.3.Acceptance承诺Article25Acontractisestablishedwhentheacceptancebecomeseffective.承诺生效时合同成立。Article26Anacceptancebecomeseffectivewhenitsnoticereachestheofferor.Ifnoticeofacceptanceisnotrequired,theacceptanceshallbecomeeffectivewhenanactofacceptanceisperformedinaccordancewithtransactionpracticesorasrequiredintheoffer.承诺通知到达要约人时生效。承诺不需要通知的，根据交易习惯或者要约的要求作出承诺的行为时生效。1)DefinitionOfferee’smanifestationoftheintentiontobeboundtothetermsoftheoffer.Acontractisn’tformeduntiltheofferisacceptedbytheofferee.Theoffereemayacceptatanytimebeforetheofferisinvalid.Anacceptancemaytaketheformofastatementoranyotherconductthatindicatestheofferee’sintentiontobeboundtothecontract.2)RequirementsofAcceptancea)mustbemadebytheofferee.b)Mustbemadewithintheperiodofvalidity.c)Mustmatchthetermsoftheofferexactlyandunequivocally.与要约内容一致Question:Whatisthenatureofan“acceptance”thatdoesnotmatchthetermsoftheofferexactly?ReceiptTheory:Undermostcivillaw,acontractisformedwhentheacceptanceisreceivedbytheofferor.CISG,UNIDROITPICCandChinaContractLawalladoptthereceipttheory.3)ValidTimeofAcceptancePinnel’scase[1602]ColeowedPinnelasumofmoney(£810s)butatPinnel’srequestpaidapartofthisamount(£52s6d).Pinneldecidedtoacceptthisamountandsaidhewouldnotclaimtherest.Butlater,Pinnelregretted,demandingthepaymentoftherest.ColeclaimedthattherewasanagreementbyPinnelthatthepart-paymentwoulddischargethefulldebt.Question:Whichpartydoyoustandby?6.ConsiderationinCommonLaw对价1)DefinitionConsiderationissomebenefitreceivedbyapartywhogivesapromiseorperformsanact,orsomedetrimentsufferedbyapartywhoreceivesapromise.(thepriceyoupaytobuyanotherperson’spromise)Undercommonlaw,itisoneofthethreeelementsofcontractformation.2)GeneralRulesonConsiderationa)musthavesufficientvaluebutneednotbeadequate.b)mustbepresentorfutureandcannotbepast.c)mustbepossibletoperform.d)mustbelegale)mustmovefromthepromiseef)mustnotbetoovagueArticle54Apartyshallhavetherighttorequestthepeople’scourtoranarbitrationinstitutiontomodifyorrevokethefollowingcontracts:下列合同，当事人一方有权请求人民法院或者仲裁机构变更或者撤销(1)thoseconcludedasaresultofsignificantmisconception;因重大误解订立的(2)thosethatareobviouslyunfairatthetimewhenconcludingthecontract.在订立合同时显失公平的。Ifacontractisconcludedbyonepa