Publication in September 2018 of an article written by Xavier Henry in the legal Journal Dalloz Actualité Juridique Contrat entitled “Abusive clauses in commercial contracts: inventory of the situation ten years later” (Dalloz AJ Contrat – August-September 2018 – n° 8-9, p. 370).
The modernization of the economy law dated 4 August 2008 added in Article L. 442-6, I, 2 ° of the French Commercial Code a new case of responsibility prohibiting the fact of “submit or attempt to submit a trading partner obligations creating a significant imbalance in the rights and obligations of the parties “. The legislator thus wanted to extend to commercial contracts the prohibition of unfair clauses previously reserved for contracts between consumers and professionals. If Article L. 442-6, I, 2 ° does not constitute the revolution expected by some and dreaded by others, it nonetheless poses a general principle that simplifies the challenge of clauses not only by the weak party of the relationship but also by the Minister of the Economy. Ten years after its adoption, an inventory of case law is needed, the text having obviously raised questions that have not all received a clear answer.
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