信賴保護與締約資訊搜集自我負責原則的修正－從資訊義務保護目的及私法制度保護面向談起－

Protection of Trust and Modification of Principle of Caveat-Emptor - From the Viewpoint of the Duty to Inform and Institutional Protection of Private Law

楊宏暉(Hung-Hui Yang)

《真理財經法學》 4期 (2010/03) Pp. 81-127

摘要

在傳統契約自由原則之下，締約當事人應自力搜集契約締結相關的資訊，而不能單純仰賴對造，因此，「買者自慎」為基本原則，但隨著交易複雜化與專業分工經濟，資訊不對稱的情形成爲交易的普遍現象，資訊落差導致資訊困境與交易失靈的機會增加，故資訊義務成爲促成交易、減少交易成本及確保意思決定自由的一項工具。而信賴保護可以在契約形成過程中降低資訊成本，減少投機行爲的發生機率，雖然，締約的接觸，依據締約上過失理論，可以在當事人之間產生特別的信賴關係，然這並不當然即指出在締約接觸階段，各該當事人即應該完全坦白資訊，使雙方當事人均擁有完全對等的訊息，而是需要有其他條件的補充，方能正當化資訊義務的要求。從信賴保護的觀點，其重點在於是否存在規範上信賴的保護必要性，亦即應從「個別保護」及「制度保護」的面向加以考察，蓋規範上的信賴及標準化的行爲期待，可爲契約準備產生最高效率，有助於減低交易成本，以及增加增進效用之交換活動的數量與規模，增加互惠得利的合作機會，以維護現代分工社會裡商業交易的順利進行，此一締約前資訊義務之保護法益在於維護當事人的自主決定，強化其事實上的決定自由，同時，此一決定自由的確保，也將有助於整體私法秩序的穩定運作。

關鍵字

契約自由 ； 締約上過失 ； 信賴保護 ； 信賴責任 ； 說明義務 ； 資訊義務

並列摘要

Under the traditional view of freedom of contract, each contracting party should be self-responsible for gathering relevant information about the contract that he/she is going to enter into, rather than relying on the counter party to provide any contract-related information. Hence, caveat-emptor becomes a well-accepted and fundamental principle in the area of contract law. However, due to the complexity of transactions, information asymmetry between contracting parties has become a popular phenomenon. This phenomenon causes difficulties for people to obtain contract-related information and increases the possibility of transaction failure. The obligation of disclosure, therefore, is used as a tool to address above-mentioned problems, to promote trade, to reduce transaction cost, and to ensure free decision-making. The protection of trust can reduce information cost and prevent opportunistic behavior in the course of contract negotiation. Although the beginning of contract negotiation can raise a special trust relationship between contracting parties according to the theory of culpa in contrahendo, it does not mean that each party should disclose all the information to its counter party so that they could possess equal information. The special relationship alone is not enough ground to impose the obligation of disclosure. From the viewpoint of trust theory, the key issue is to identify the trust relation that warrants protection. We should examine the issue based on both individual protection and institutional protection of private law. To protect only the trust relation that warrants protection and to preserve the expectation of reasonable behavior can increase the efficiency of contract negotiation, reduce transaction cost, and facilitate more smooth transactions. In sum, the important purpose of duty to disclose material information in the course of contract negotiation is to protect free decision-making, which in turn will safeguard the efficient operation of the private law system.

並列關鍵字

freedom of contract ； culpa in contrahendo ； protection of trust ； trust theory ； duty to inform