On The Conclusion Of The Contract On Trust Accountability

To protect the reliance interest is an expression of the spirit of the modern civil law which implies the concept transformation from "freedom of contract" to safeguard the security of transactions and individual-based to community-based. To put this protection into practice mainly needs the undertaking of reliance-based liability. So the establishment and improvement of reliance-based liability have important legal value and social significance.Jhering's theory of "Culpa in contrahendo" (which can be translated into "Fault in negotiation" in English) in the Civil Law System, the doctrine of promissory estoppel and Fuller's theory of reliance in the Common Law System, are two important innovations in the field of contract law to protect reliance interest. They respectively punish breach of prior contractual obligations and make promises which have no consideration to be legally binding. These theories and systems, which are based on good faith, to protect reliance interest of contracting parties in the course of contracting and play a vital function in balancing the interests between the parties in the two legal systems respectively. However, both the theory and practice of foreign countries or of China, there is few systematic analysis and generalization of reliance-based liability. That result in the relative research of reliance-based liability either stay in Fuller's theory or see reliance interest as a manifestation of and put it in the system of in "Fault in negotiation". At the same time, the responsibility in breaching reliance interest has no systematic researches and rules itself compared to in breaching contract obligations. It is detrimental to the role that contract law play on protection of the parties' interests. In this paper, the author uses methods of comparative analysis, empirical analysis and case studies and so on, by comparing the various theories, referring to the practice domestically and abroad, considers the reliance-based liability as an independent kind of contractual liability which is parallel to the liability of breaching contract obligations. This article pointed out that the reliance-based liability has basis and significance for independent existence. It is different from "Fault in negotiation" and has its own quality. The establishment and improvement of a whole system of reliance-based liability is more beneficial to the comprehensive protection of reliance interest.The article is divided into six parts:Part 1 introduces basis of research in reliance-based liability and issues to be solved.Part 2 clarifies the nature of the reliance-based liability and its relationship with other contractual liabilities especially "Fault in negotiation" by explaining the concepts of reliance, reliance interest and reliance-based liability. Part 3 analyses its value of existence and social significance after introducing and evaluating the evolution of reliance-based liability systemPart 4 reviews the ways from a comparative perspective. The author puts forward the supposition:whether or not the compensation for damages is the only way of undertaking reliance-based liability the trust and there are other ways to give the parties in contract a more comprehensive protection?Part 5 considers and builds a system of reliance interest damages compensation in accordance with the classical system of liability of contract obligations; it refers to the elements, scope of application, methods of compensation for damages and so forth. At the same time it stresses the importance of protection of the reliance interest in contracts for the benefit of third parties which is always easily overlooked.Finally, the concluding part of the article points out that the reliance-based liability is an independent contractual liability, it has its own character and the ways to undertake liability; it does not have the same quality with the liability of "Fault in negotiation" and is not included in the latter. The principle of reliance interest not only does not deny the basic principles of contract freedom, but expression of freedom of contract and protection of freedom. Especially when we are establishing harmonious socialistic society and socialistic market economy with Chinese characteristics in China nowadays, we should attach importance to and improve the reliance-based liability. And though protecting the reliance interest to secure transaction security and stabilize social order.