The role of the French judiciary in the reforms on the contract lawThe pre-contracting phase and the obligation to inform

Abstract

In this research, we will shed light on the role of the French judiciary in the reforms that took place on the contract law in France under Decree No. 131-2016 dated 10/2/2016. As this decree included many important amendments to the general theory of the contract in civil law, most of its provisions were derived from French case law. In view of the large number of these amendments, the study of the new legal texts contained in the decree was limited to two topics: the pre-contracting phase, and the obligation to inform, by addressing their concept, conditions of application and effects. The texts regulating these two topics were analyzed in terms of text and wording, compared with judicial precedents, and the extent of harmony and differences between them was traced, and the extent to which the legislator departed from these judicial precedents and its causes were shown. By establishing judicial precedents in the texts of the decree, the French legislator showed his appreciation for the jurisprudence, his recognition of the quality of judgments issued by the judiciary, and his expression of the extent of integration and harmony between the law and the judiciary, which confirms the role of the judiciary