Research On The Reform Of The Kingdom Of Tonga’s Contract Law

In the era of globalization,capital and commercial exchanges,there’s often a need to breakthrough a certain national border.The development of the market increasingly requires the uniformity of transaction rules,thereby reducing transaction costs.This requires the continuous integration of contract legal systems from different legal systems.Economic globalization promotes the continuous integration of the domestic market and the international market,which determines that the contract law,which is the basic law of the market economy,must adapt to the needs of the domestic market,and it must be in line with the international practices.With the advent of the 21st century,the development of Tonga’s market economy has entered a new historical stage;in the face of the tsunami of economic globalization sweeping the world,Tonga has also ushered in unprecedented opportunities.Tonga joined the World Trade Organization at the turn of the century.Joining the WTO allows Tonga to better understand and integrate into the world.However,we must remember that Tonga,like the rest of the world,faces many obstacles in the integration process.This has had a direct impact on Tonga’s economic development and has posed a serious threat to our current legal system,especially Tonga’s underdeveloped private law system.As the most representative legal system in private law,contract law has become increasingly significant.Therefore,today we discuss the reform of Tongan contract law with important practical value.The purpose of this paper is to provide suggestions for the reform and improvement of Tonga’s contract legal system through the analysis of Tonga’s current contract legal system and its comparative analysis with China’s contract law.This study is divided into five main parts.The first part is a macro analysis of Tonga’s contractual legal environment.In the more than100 years since the establishment of modern Tonga on June 4,1875,the Tongan government has united and led the unremitting efforts of the Tongan people to successfully open up a path of democracy with Tongan characteristics.The Constitution of Tonga sets out the principles and rules formed when Tonga was established,namely the principles and rules of English common law to be adopted and implemented as part of the Basic Law,unless such principles and rules are inconsistent with the constitution or statutes,or are not applicable or appropriate to the conditions of the Kingdom of Tonga,or inconsistent with any particular custom.Accordingly,this section presents an overview of the Tongan constitution and other laws,focuses on the history of Tongan contract law,and presents the current state of Tongan contract law.The second part is the analysis of the necessity of the reform of Tonga’s contract legal system.Contract law in Tonga presents many difficulties and challenges and should be reformed.(1)The needs of national conditions.Based on the defects of Tonga’s contract law and the needs of Tonga’s economy,this paper argues that the reform of Tonga’s contract law is a realistic need to promote Tonga’s economic development and foreign contract transactions.(2)Enlightenment from China’s experience in contract legislation.In the past,China’s contract law was not unified,but with the requirements of the development of the market economy,it is necessary to clarify the contract rules to promote the unification of contract law and the compilation of the civil code.The codification of the Unified Contract Law and the Civil Code has an important impact on China’s economic development and legal education,which also has important implications for Tonga.(3)Reform of Anglo-American law.Starting from the contract legislation of European and American countries,it expounds the requirements for contract legislation and reform of commercial development.The third part is the analysis of the reasons why the Chinese contract law is chosen as the object of study in Tonga’s reform.The contract compilation of China’s Civil Code is not only the latest contract legislation in the world,but is also the principles and spirit contained in China’s Civil Code also have important enlightening value.In fact,the reform of China’s contract law is in line with the reality of China’s reform and development and the development of the market economy.The Contract Law of 1999 and the Civil Code of 2020 have greatly promoted the development of China’s market economy at different times.Therefore,the reform of the contract law system in the Kingdom of Tonga can learn from China’s contract law system.Of course,when choosing Chinese contract law as the object of study,we should not only pay attention to the Civil Code,but also pay attention to the sources of contract laws,relevant judicial interpretations,and industry and international practices in other laws other than the Civil Code.The fourth part analyzes the basic principles of Tonga’s contract law reform.Reforming Tongan contract law requires consensus on the following principles.(1)Systematization and codification of contract law norms.Through the unification and codification of contract law,legal obstacles will be reduced,and economic development and foreign exchanges will be promoted.(2)Modernization of contract law norms.Through the design of rules such as tourism contracts and electronic contracts,the modernization of Tonga’s contract law will be realized,and the modernization of Tonga’s economy and society will be promoted.(3)Internationalization of contract law norms.Coordinate the future Tongan contract law with the "United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods","General Principles of International Commercial Contracts" and "Pacific Closer Economic Relations Agreement" to promote international exchanges.(4)Take into account the freedom of contract and contract justice.Properly coordinate the relationship between contract freedom and contract justice,safeguard Tonga’s national interests and social public interests,and protect the interests of vulnerable groups.The fifth part discusses the reform and improvement of the concrete system of Tonga’s contract law.(1)Improve the rules of contract conclusion.It is necessary to improve not only the rules of offer and acceptance,but also the system of reservation contracts.(2)Improve the contract performance system.(3)Improve the contract preservation system.(4)Improve the liability system for breach of contract.