英國契約法上錯誤之歷史發展

The Historical Development of Mistake in English Contract Law

曾怡華(Yi-Hua Tseng)

指導教授 ： 陳自強

國立臺灣大學/法律學院/法律學研究所/碩士(2015年)

https://doi.org/10.6342/NTU.2015.00667

摘要

日常生活中發生錯誤乃常有之事，交易上所發生之錯誤更是自古以來主要之法律紛爭之一，然法律要如何折衝其間並公平解決此類紛爭並非易事，各國契約法關於錯誤之規範亦大異其趣。其中，英國作為英美法系之重要國家，許多英美法系國家之法律規範皆受到英國法之影響，又在國際契約法整合之趨勢下，英國在區域性之歐盟契約法整合亦佔有一席之地，因此，了解英國契約法上錯誤即有必要。而有鑑於現今錯誤理論混亂之結果，且因為錯誤理論在十九世紀中時曾受到歐陸學說影響，其發展過程中亦經歷各種司法改革而受影響，再者，錯誤法則在英國為十九世紀中後方萌芽之理論而至今仍在發展及變動當中，前因後果尚須從歷史發展的脈絡下方得明白了解，本文遂選擇以「英國契約法上錯誤之歷史發展」作為研究主題。

本文將從十九世紀中之前錯誤基於衡平原則之衡平救濟、於十九世紀中之後受到歐陸學說的影響而使錯誤理論萌芽、1873 年司法法案後司法體系的改變對於錯誤理論的影響，而至二十世紀司法實務上正式承認錯誤理論，及二十一世紀錯誤理論之轉變，對於錯誤理論之歷史發展過程一一詳細做介紹。同時，本文亦將循著歷史發展的時間脈絡，介紹各個時期關於錯誤理論的權威案例，並分析及歸納出這些案例中所發展出來之錯誤類型及對於各類型錯誤之處理方式。

在了解錯誤理論之發展及對於各種錯誤類型之處理方式後，本文將進一步介紹國際統一法律文件對於錯誤之相關規定，其包含聯合國國際商事契約通則（PICC）、歐洲契約法原則（PECL）、共同參考架構草案（DCFR）及歐洲共同買賣法草案（CESL 草案）之相關規定，而後歸納出國際統一法律文件對於錯誤之發展方向，再將英國法與其做比較分析。最後，本文將概述英國契約法上錯誤之現況、對於英國契約法上錯誤之歷史發展做一總結，並提及英國法之錯誤理論與國際共識對於我國之啟發及我國錯誤法則將來可能思考之方向。

關鍵字

錯誤 ； 英國契約法 ； 衡平法上錯誤 ； 普通法上錯誤 ； 單方錯誤 ； 共通錯誤 ； 性質錯誤 ； 契約條款內容之錯誤 ； 契約標的物之錯誤 ； 當事人同一性錯誤 ； 國際統一法律文件

並列摘要

“Mistakes” occur in our daily life, and mistakes in transactions in particular have been one of the most critical legal issues since ancient times. However, it is difficult to intervene and arbitrate such disputes fairly through legal rules. The legal systems in different countries have quite discrepant conceptions over mistake in contract law as well. England, as the bellwether of the progression for common law system, and for its development in countries with relevant adaption, has played an influential role in the development of regional common European contract law under the trend of harmonization for international contract law. Therefore, it is of great essence to understand the doctrine of mistake in English contract law. Affected by civil law in the mid nineteenth century and with the influence of judicial reforms in the course of its development, the doctrine of mistake in England came into being after the mid nineteenth century. Even till now, it is still in a changing and evolving state. Given confusion for existent doctrine over English contractual mistake, this research, The Historical Development of Mistake in English Contract Law, aims to provide a comprehensive overview from the trace of history.

This paper would explore the equitable reliefs arising before the mid nineteenth century, the emergence of the doctrine of mistake affected by civil law, the influence by the modifications of judicial system by the Judicature Act 1873, the judicial acceptance for the doctrine of mistake in twentieth century, and the transition of doctrine itself in twenty-first century. With the progression for the historical development for the doctrine of mistake, the author would introduce leading cases for each period and provide analytical review for the mistakes prototypes and its treatment evolved from each period.

After the presentation for both the development and the treatment for various prototypes of mistakes, the paper would further provide a systematic introduction for the provisions on mistake under the international uniform law instruments, including UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts (PICC), Principle of European Contract Law (PECL), Draft Common Frame of Reference (DCFR), and Common European Sales Law (CESL). With the above introduction, the paper would summarize with the development and future directions for the provisions on mistake under these international uniform law instruments, and provide a comparative review between the above provisions and English law. Lastly, final sections of the paper would conclude with the outline for the doctrine of mistake in modern English law and overview of the development of mistake in history. With the reference to the inspiration brought by English law and the common core approach for international uniform law instruments, the author would like to propose propositions and prospects so as to reflect upon for the future development for the law of mistake in Taiwan.

並列關鍵字

mistake ； English contract law ； mistake in equity ； mistake in common law ； unilateral mistake ； common mistake ； shared mistake ； mistake as to quality ； mistake as to the terms of the contract ； mistake as to the subject matter ； mistake as to the identity of the party ； international uniform law instruments

參考文獻

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