新加坡合同法(The-Law-of-Contract)--最新中英文版(ACCA考生整理)

The Law of Contract 新加坡合同法 新加坡合同法 SECTION 1 INTRODUCTION 导论导论 8 1 1 Contract law in Singapore is largely based on the common law of contract in England Unlike its neighbours Malaysia and Brunei following Independence in 1965 Singapore s Parliament made no attempt to codify Singapore s law of contract Accordingly much of the law of contract in Singapore remains in the form of judge made rules In some circumstances these judge made rules have been modified by specific statutes 新加坡的合同法基本上是以英国关于合同的普通法为范式而构建的 与它的邻居马来西 亚和文莱不同的是 新加坡在 1965 年独立之后并没有试图编纂新加坡的合同法 因此 新加坡的合同法仍保持判例法规则的模式 在某些情况下 判例法的规则已经被特定的 成文法所修改 8 1 2 Many of these statutes are English in origin To begin with 13 English commercial statutes have been incorporated as part of the Statutes of the Republic of Singapore by virtue of s 4 of the Application of English Law Act Cap 7A 1993 Rev Ed These are listed in Part II of the First Schedule of this Act Other statutes eg the Contracts Rights of Third Parties Act Cap 53B 2002 Rev Ed are modelled upon 仿效 English statutes There are also other areas where statutory development based on non English models has taken place eg the Consumer Protection Fair Trading Act Cap 52A 2004 Rev Ed which was largely drawn from fair trading legislation enacted in Alberta and Sasketchewan 许多此类立法起源于英国 首先来说 有 13 个英国商事法律根据 英国法律适用法 Application of English Law Act 第四节 Cap 7A 1993 年修订 的规定直接成 为新加坡共和国的立法 这些立法罗列在该法的第二部分的第一附表里 其他立法 如 合同第三方权利法 Contracts Rights of Third Parties Act Cap 53B 2002 修订 系模仿英国立法制定的 在某些领域也有立法采用非英国模式的情形 比 如 消费者保护 公平交易 法 Consumer Protection Fair Trading Act Cap 52A 2004 年修订 该法大致上参照 加拿大 阿尔伯塔与萨卡其万两省的公平交易法 制定 8 1 3 The rules developed in the Singapore courts do nevertheless bear a very close resemblance to those developed under English common law Indeed where there is no Singapore authority specifically on point it will usually be assumed that the position will in the first instance be no different from that in England 即使是新加坡的法庭本身所发展出的规则也同英国普通法的同类规则有非常大的相似性 如果关于某个问题新加坡本身没有权威规则时 人们就会理所当然地首先假定新加坡的 立场同英国法的立场没有什么区别 SECTION 2 OFFER AND ACCEPTANCE 要约和承诺要约和承诺 Agreement协议协议 8 2 1 A contract is essentially an agreement between two or more parties the terms of which affect their respective rights and obligations which are enforceable at law Whether the parties have reached agreement or a meeting of the minds is objectively ascertained from the facts The concepts of offer and acceptance provide in many albeit not all cases the starting point for analysing whether agreement has been reached 合同在本质上是双方或者多方之间的协议 该协议条款涉及到当事人各自的权利义务并 且具有法律约束力 至于当事人之间是否达成协议 或合意 consensus ad idem 应通过对事实的客观分析而确定 在大多数 但并非所有的情况下 要约与承诺的概念是 分析当事人是否达成协议的起点 Offer要约要约 8 2 2 An offer is a promise or other expression of willingness by the offeror to be bound on certain specified terms upon the unqualified acceptance of these terms by the person to whom the offer is made the offeree Provided the other formation elements ie consideration and intention to create legal relations are present the acceptance of an offer results in a valid contract 一个要约即是 要约人 发出的一项允诺或其他形式的自愿意思表示 表明经 受要约人 无条件承诺某些确定的条款 要约人 即受这些条款的约束 如合同成立的其他要素亦 得满足 如对价和设立法律关系的意旨 对要约的承诺会导致一个有效的合同 8 2 3 Whether any particular statement amounts to an offer depends on the intention with which it is made An offer must be made with the intention to be bound On the other hand if a person is merely soliciting offers or requesting for information without any intention to be bound at best he or she would be making an invitation to treat Under the objective test a person may be said to have made an offer if his or her statement or conduct induces a reasonable person to believe that the person making the offer intends to be bound by the acceptance of the alleged offer even if that person in fact had no such intention 一个特定的表述是否构成要约有赖于表述的意旨 要约必须具有受拘束的意旨 如果某 人只是引诱他人作出要约 或者只是询问情况 而并没有受拘束的意旨 那他或她最多 只是在作出要约邀请 按照客观标准 如果某人的表述 或者行为 致使一个通情达理 的人相信发出要约者具有在该要约被承诺后接受拘束的意旨 则即使该人实际上没有此 种意旨 他也被认为是发出了一项要约 Termination of Offer要约终止要约终止 8 2 4 An offer may be terminated by withdrawal at any time prior to its acceptance provided there is communication of the withdrawal to the offeree whether by the offeror or through some reliable source Rejection of an offer which includes the making of a counter offer or a variation of the original terms terminates the offer In the absence of an express stipulation as to time an offer will lapse after a reasonable time What this amounts to depends on the particular facts of the case Death of the offeror if known to the offeree would render the offer incapable of being accepted by the offeree Even in the absence of such knowledge death of either party terminates any offer which has a personal element 要约在承诺之前的任何时候都可以撤回 只要由要约人亲自或者通过其他可信的渠道向 受要约人发出撤回通知 对要约的拒绝导致要约失效 这包括发出反要约或者改变原要 约的条款 如要约对时效没有明确规定 则该要约在合理时间之后失效 这种情况到底 何所指 这要根据案件的具体事实来分析 如果要约人死亡且此事实已为受要约人知晓 则要约就不能够被后者接受 任何一方死亡的事实 即使不为他方知晓 也会导致任何 具有人身因素的要约消灭 Acceptance承诺承诺 8 2 5 An offer is accepted by the unconditional and unqualified assent to its terms by the offeree This assent may be expressed through words or conduct but cannot be inferred from mere silence save in very exceptional circumstances 受要约人对要约条款无条件和无保留的同意构成对要约的承诺 同意可由言语或行为来 表示 但除非在极其例外的情况下 缄默不能被认为是同意 8 2 6 As a general rule acceptance must be communicated to the offeror although a limited exception exists where the acceptance is sent by post and this method of communication is either expressly or impliedly authorised This exception known as the postal acceptance rule stipulates that acceptance takes place at the point when the letter of acceptance is posted whether or not it was in fact received by the offeror 一个总的原则是承诺应该被通知到要约人 但如果承诺是通过邮寄方式且此种方式被认 为是或者明确或者默示地许可的 则构成一项例外 这个例外被称为 投邮承诺规则 它规定承诺信一经付邮 无论要约人是否实际上收到 承诺均告生效 Certainty确定性确定性 8 2 7 Before the agreement may be enforced as a contract its terms must be sufficiently certain At the least the essential terms of the agreement should be specified Beyond this the courts may resolve apparent vagueness or uncertainty by reference to the acts of the parties a previous course of dealing between the parties trade practice or to a standard of reasonableness On occasion statutory provision of contractual details may fill the gaps For more on implication of terms see Paragraphs 8 5 5 to 8 5 8 below 在协议被作为合同执行以前 它的条款必须足够确定 至少 协议的关键条款应予明确 规定 在此之外 法庭可以通过诉诸当事方的行为 当事方之间已有的习惯作法 贸易 惯例或者合理标准来解决协议条款含糊不清或不确定的问题 某些情况下 关于合同细 节的成文法规定也可以用来填补协议条款的空白 关于条款的问题 可进一步参见第 8 5 5 节和 8 5 8 节 Completeness完整性完整性 8 2 8 An incomplete agreement also cannot amount to an enforceable contract Agreements made subject to contract may be considered incomplete if the intention of the parties as determined from the facts was not to be legally bound until the execution of a formal document or until further agreement is reached 不完整的协议不能构成具有执行力的合同 如果协议规定 以合同为准 且由事实可推 断出的当事方的意旨表明在正式合同或者进一步的协议达成之前 当事方无意受到法律 拘束 则该协议为不完整的协议 Electronic Transactions Act电子交易电子交易 8 2 9 The Electronic Transactions Act Cap 88 1999 Rev Ed ETA clarifies that except with respect to the requirement of writing or signatures in wills negotiable instruments indentures declarations of trust or powers of attorney contracts involving immovable property and documents of title s 4 1 electronic records may be used in expressing an offer or acceptance of an offer in contract formation s 11 A declaration of intent between contracting parties may also be made in the form of an electronic record s 12 The ETA also clarifies when an electronic record may be attributed to a particular person s 13 and how the time and place of despatch and receipt of an electronic record are to be determined s 15 电子交易法 Cap 88 1999 年修正 阐明 电子记录可用来在合同订立过程中表 述要约或者对要约的承诺 见第 11 条 但是这不适用于对遗嘱 流通票据 债券 委托声明或授权书 不动产合同以及所有权凭证 见第 4 11 条 等文件的书面或签 字要求 SECTION 3 CONSIDERATION 对价对价 Definition定义定义 8 3 1 A promise contained in an agreement is not enforceable unless it is supported by consideration or it is made in a written document made under seal Consideration is something of value as defined by the law requested for by the party making the promise the promisor and provided by the party who receives it the promisee in exchange for the promise that the promisee is seeking to enforce Thus it could consist of either some benefit received by the promisor or some detriment to the promisee This benefit detriment may consist of a counter promise or a completed act 一项允诺 如果不为对价支持或者不由书面盖印作出 则不具法律执行力 对价是 法 律界定的 某种价值 为提出允诺的一方 允诺人 所要求 并由接受允诺的一方 受允诺人 所提供以用来交换对前项允诺的执行 故此 它可以是允诺人收到的某 种利益 或者受允诺人承受的某种损害 这种利益 损害可以表现为对待允诺或者已完成 的行为 Reciprocity互惠互惠 8 3 2 The idea of reciprocity that underlies the requirement for consideration means that there has to be some causal relation between the consideration and the promise itself Thus consideration cannot consist of something that was already done before the promise was made However the courts do not always adopt a strict chronological approach to the analysis 体现于对价要求之中的是互惠关系这一原则 它要求对价和允诺之间有某种原因关系 因此 对价不能是允诺作出之前已经完成的事情 但是 法院并不总是严格地忠实于这 种以时间先后为准的推论方式 参见 Pao On v Lau Yiu Long 1980 AC 614 该判 例所确立的原则已经被新加坡上诉法院在 Sim Tony v Lim Ah Ghee t a Phil Real Estate acquire own hold and develop property hold a common seal and may do and suffer such other acts and things as any body corporate may lawfully do and suffer see s 5 1 Section 5 2 also extends s 41 of the Companies Act to apply to a limited liability partnership 按照新加坡法律有限责任合伙 limited liability partnership 也是一种公司实体 参 见 有限责任合伙法 2005 它可以以自己的名义提起诉讼或成为被告 取得 拥 有 占有和发展财产 设公司印章 以及任何可以进行和负担任何其他公司实体可以合 法进行和负担的行为 见第 5 1 条 第 5 2 条亦将 公司法 第 41 条适用于有 限责任合伙 SECTION 7 PRIVITY OF CONTRACT 合同的相对性合同的相对性 Third party Enforcement of Contractual Rights Generally not Permitted 一般不允许第三方执行合同权利一般不允许第三方执行合同权利 8 7 1 As a general proposition only persons who are party ie privy to a contract may enforce rights or obligations arising from that contract This is sometimes referred to as the privity rule 总的立场是 只有合同的当事人 相对人 才能执行合同项下的权利和义务 这在有 时候被称为 合同的相对性规则 8 7 2 A third party who is not privy to a contract is generally not allowed to bring any legal action in his or her own name for breach of contract against a contracting party who fails to perform his or her contractual obligations even if such failure of performance has caused the third party to suffer a loss 第三方不是合同的相对人 因而一般不能针对合同的当事方的未能履约的行为提起法律 诉讼 即使第三方因为此种履行不能而招致损失 When is Someone Party or Privy to a Contract 何时成为合同当事人或相对方何时成为合同当事人或相对方 8 7 3 There is no clear definition as to when a person is is not privy to a contract Generally a party who is an offeror or offeree will be privy to the contract However it seems that merely being mentioned in the contract is not enough 关于某个人何时是或者不是相对人没有清晰的法律定义 一般而言 要约人或受要约人 会成为合同的相对人 但是 仅仅是在合同中被提到名字尚不足以使该人成为相对人 8 7 4 It is nevertheless possible to have a multilateral contract where there are multiple offerees one or more of whom accept the offer on behalf of the others or where there are multiple offerors one or more of whom make the offer on behalf of the others In either case each offeree or offeror is a joint party to the contract and the privity rule will not apply to them 但也可能有多边合同的情形 这是因为有着多个受要约人 其中某个或多个代表其他人 接受要约 或者多个要约人 其中某个或者多个代表其他人发出要约 的存在 上述任 何情形下 每个受要约人人或者要约人都是合同的连带当事方 而合同的相对性规则不 适用于他们 Non statutory Exceptions to the Privity Rule相对性原则的非立法例外相对性原则的非立法例外 8 7 5 The privity rule is not absolute It is subject to many exceptions Apart from the possibility of a multilateral or multi party contract mentioned above some other exceptions can be found in the law relating to a agency b trusts or c land in relation to covenants which run with the land or lease For an in depth discussion of these other legal techniques to circumvent the privity rule please see Chapters 15 and 18 合同的相对性原则并非绝对 而是有着很多例外 除上述提到的多边或者多方合同之外 下列方面的法律也能找到各种例外 a 代理 b 信托 和 c 土地 关系到虽 土地或租约转移的合同债务 关于其他法律对相对性规则的限制方面更深入的探讨见 第十五和十八章 Statutory Exceptions to the Privity Rule相对性原则的立法例外相对性原则的立法例外 8 7 6 There are also statutory exceptions Most of these are only applicable to specific and narrowly defined cases Two examples of such statutes include a the Bills of Exchange Act Cap 23 1985 Rev Ed see Chapter 22 on Banking Law and b the Bills of Lading Act Cap 384 1994 Rev Ed see Chapter 25 on Shipping Law Of more general application the Singapore Parliament enacted the Contracts Rights of Third Parties Act Cap 53B 2002 Rev Ed in 2001 还有一些立法规定的例外 但其大多数适用于非常具体的和狭窄界定的情况 举两个例 子 a 汇票法 Cap 23 1985 修订 见第 x 章关于银行法 和 b 提单 法 Cap 384 1994 修订 见第 x 章关于海运法 关于更一般性的适用 见新加坡 议会在 2001 年制定的 合同项下第三方权利法 Cap 53B 2002 修订 Contracts Rights of Third Parties Act合同项下第三方权利法合同项下第三方权利法 8 7 7 Section 1 provides that the Contracts Rights of Third Parties Act has no retrospective effect it cannot apply to any contract formed before 1 January 2002 Section 1 also provides that the Act does not apply to any contracts which were formed on or after 1 January 2002 but before 1 July 2002 unless the contracting parties expressly provided in their contract for it to do so Contracts formed on or after 1 July 2002 are always subject to the Act 合同项下第三方权利法 第一条规定该法无溯及既往的效力 即它不能适用于 2002 年一月一日之前成立的合同 该法规定其自身也不适用于 2002 年一月一日或之后 2002 年七月一日之前成立的合同 除非当事人在他们的合同中明确规定适用该法 2002 年七月一日之后成立的合同总是受该法制约 8 7 8 Where the Act applies it gives a third party a statutory right to enforce a term of a contract against a party who is in breach of his or her obligations under the contract the promisor even though even though the third party is a volunteer who has not provided any contractual consideration see s 2 5 当本法适用时 它赋予一个第三方以法定权利 使得后者可以就某个合同条款对违反其 合同义务的当事人 允诺人 予以执行 即使第三方是个没有提供任何合同对价的第 三者 见第 2 5 条 8 7 9 T his may occur if either a the contract expressly provides that the third party may enforce a term of the contract in his or her own right s 2 1 a or b the contract purports to confer a benefit on the third party s 2 1 b However s 2 1 b is qualified a third party will not be granted the direct statutory right of suit in the absence of an express provision permitting him or her to do so if on a proper construction of the contract it appears that the parties did not intend the term to be enforceable by the third party s 2 2 这种情况之发生是因为 a 合同明确规定第三方自身有权执行某个合同条款 见第 2 1 a 条 或者 b 合同 意图对第三方授予利益 见第 2 1 b 但是第 2 1 b 是 受到限制的 如无明确合同规定 且根据对合同的恰当解释显示出当事人无意给与第三 方法定的执行权利 第三方即没有直接的法定权利提起诉讼 见第 2 2 条 8 7 10 This statutory right of enforcement is not just limited to cases where the promisor is under an obligation to act to confer a positive benefit on the third party Negative benefits such as the benefit of a term excluding or limiting the third party s legal liabilities to the promisor may also be enforced s 2 5 但法定的执行权利并不限于允诺人有义务采取行动授予第三方积极利益的情形 消极 利益 例如免除或限制第三方对允诺人之法律责任的利益 也可以得到执行 见第 2 5 条 8 7 11 The third party s statutory right of enforcement against the promisor is qualified in a number of ways First the third party s statutory right of recovery may be qualified by a defence or set off which the promisor would have been able to assert vis vis the other party to the contract the promisee s 4 Second any sum to be recovered by the third party pursuant to the Act may be reduced to take into account sums recovered by the promisee from the promisor in respect of the promisor s breach s 6 第三方针对允诺人执行合同的法定权利受到各种限制 首先 第三方取得利益的法定权 利受到允诺人对合同别的当事方 受允诺人 所可以提起的抗辩权或者抵销权的限制 见第 4 条 第二 考虑及受允诺人因为允诺人违约而追复到的赔偿数额 第三方根据 该法所可以获得的金钱数额会相应会减少 见第 6 条 8 7 12 Once third party rights are created under the Act certain restrictions are imposed on the ability of the parties to the contract to vary or rescind their contract if this would extinguish or alter the third party s rights under the Act s 3 根据本法第三方权利一旦设定 合同当事人改变或撤销合同的能力如果会消除或改变第 三方根据本法享受的权利 就受到某些限制 见第 3 条 8 7 13 Though wider in its scope than many of the other legal techniques for circumventing privity the Act is not of universal application Section 7 of the Act sets out a number of situations where the Act does not apply Excluded cases include a contracts on a bill of exchange promissory note or other negotiable instrument b limited liability partnership agreements as defined under the Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2005 Act 5 of 2005 c the statutory contract binding a company and its members under s39 of the Companies Act Cap 50 1994 Rev Ed d third party enforcement of any term of an employment contract against an employee and e third party enforcement of any term apart from any exclusion or limitation of liability for the benefit of the third party in a contract for carriage of goods by sea or a contract for the carriage of goods or cargo by rail road or air if such contract is subject to certain international transport conventions 本法虽然比其他法律技术更能限制合同相对性规则 但也并没有普遍适用力 法规的第 7 条列出了数种本法不能涵盖的情形 排除的情形包括 a 关于汇票 期票或其他流 通票据的合同 b 有限责任合伙法 所规定的有限责任合伙合同 c 根据 公司法 第 39 条约束公司及其股东的法定合同 4 第三方根据雇佣合同针对雇员 执行合同条款 以及 e 第三方对海上货物运输合同或者适用某些国际公约的铁路 陆 路或空运合同中任何条款的执行 但为第三方利益的排除或限制责任的条款除外 SECTION 8 DISCHARGE OF CONTRACT 合同之解除合同之解除 Discharge by Performance因履约而解除因履约而解除 8 8 1 If all the contractual obligations as defined by the terms of the contract are fully performed the contract is brought to an end or discharged by performance In theory such performance must be precise However trivial defects in performance may be ignored as being negligible or de minimis In addition where full performance is only possible with the cooperation of the other party as is almost invariably the case with obligations of payment or delivery tender of performance in circumstances where the other party refuses to accept it is generally deemed to be equivalent to full performance so as to discharge the contract 如果合同条款规定的所有合同义务都得以全部履行 则合同归于结束或称因履行而 解除 理论上讲 履行必须是适当的 然而履行中的细小瑕疵可被视为可忽略的或 琐碎之事 此外 如果全面履行只有在另一方当事人的配合下才为可能 如付款或交付义务之履 行必然需要对方配合 在对方拒绝受领的情况下 履行就绪可被视同为全面履行 合 同因此而解除 Non or Defective Performance不履行或不适当履行不履行或不适当履行 8 8 2 In the event that a contractual obligation is not performed or is performed defectively in a non trivial fashion Singapore law provides for a variety of legal responses and remedies depending on the nature of the failure of performance 如合同义务未被履行或者履行有并非琐碎的瑕疵 新加坡法律规定了众多法律上的反应 和救济方式 其适用视违约的性质而定 Lawful Excuses for Breach of Contract违法合同的法定免责事由违法合同的法定免