違約金條款為現今實務上,當事人間契約上常有之約定,舉凡買賣、租賃、信用卡、工程、僱傭、競業禁止等,民法上之有名或無名契約,皆可見到違約金條款之蹤影,用以確保債務人債務之履行。我國民法第250條至第253條,即係關於違約金之約定,將違約金依其性質,分為「損害賠償額預定性違約金」與「懲罰性違約金」,且為釐清違約金性質之爭議,我國於民國88年債編修正時,將法條用語中造成爭議與混淆之文字斟酌並修改之。然而,雖已經過修法,實務上與違約金相關之爭議問題仍層出不窮,諸如當事人契約中所約定之違約金性質究應如何定性、與違約金相類之制度是否具有違約金之性質、違約金之計算方式、違約金金額是否適當及應如何酌減等等,實務與學說上之見解紛歧,認定標準皆有所不同。因此,我國違約金之制度究竟如何,以及實務上係如何運作,實為一值得研究的重要課題。本文以我國違約金之制度為中心,除就民國88年債編修正前後之違約金制度為介紹,將修法後仍有爭議之問題點列出加以探討外,並嘗試就違約金金額究否適當之點,分析整理相關之實務見解,以不同的契約類型為分類標準,將實務所適用之標準加以類型化,期望透過本文之研究,可對實務提供一些具體之建議。
Provisions of penalty has been used broadly in contracts, such as sales, lease, credit cards, construction, and so on, to ensure that the debtors will discharge the debts. In Taiwan, Civil Code Articles 250 to 253 are the pertinent rules of penalty. In order to resolve the controversies over the nature of penalty, Article 250 was amended in 1999. However, there are still many disputes in practical applications, e.g. the characterization of the penalty in contracts and the penalty calculation methods. Among them, the definition of “disproportionately high” penalty, and the way to reduce penalty to a reasonable amount are the focal points in practice. By analyzing the actual court cases, this thesis introduces the structure of penalty, categorizes the standards of reducing penalty and provides concrete suggestions accordingly.