Research On Legal Issues Of Format Clauses In Express Service Contract

With the development of the national economy and the gradual prevalence of e-commerce,China’s express delivery industry is showing rapid development.Among them,the express service contract plays an important role in the delivery of the express service transaction and the settlement of disputes.However,for the sake of self-interest,express delivery companies may unilaterally enter into express delivery service contracts,and there may be cases where enacting unfair format clauses violates the legitimate rights and interests of consumers.Due to the imperfection of the existing relevant legislation,and the reason for the dispute about the validity of the standard clause.In the judicial judgments of express service contract disputes,the same cases often have different judgment results,and the judges’ application of the rules of the validity of the format clauses is confused.The judicial dilemma caused by this has seriously affected the credibility of the judiciary.In response to the above problems,the text is divided into the following four parts for research:The first part is the defects and causes of the express service contract format clauses.In current practice,courier companies formulate unfair format clauses in courier service contracts,which are mainly divided into three situations.Courier companies arbitrarily set unfair insured clauses,clauses that shorten the claim period for express damages illegally,and clauses that exempt or mitigate liability for delay compensation.The reason for express companies to formulate unfair format clauses is because express companies have lower costs to damage consumers’ rights and interests,the risk distribution mechanism in the express industry is not perfect,and the government and industry associations have insufficient supervision of express companies.The second part is the legislative status and problems of express service contract format clauses.The main content of this part is to analyze the shortcomings of thecurrent relevant legal provisions by combing the legislative status of the express delivery service contract format clauses in China.First,because the “Contract Law of the People ’s Republic of China”(the full text of the “Contract Law”)does not clearly stipulate the rules for exemption,it has led to discussions in the academic circles on whether Article 39 makes rules or rules of effectiveness;The obligatory provisions are unclear,and the rules of validity of the format clause are too general,which makes it difficult for the judge to apply the relevant provisions in the judgment of express service contract disputes.The third part is the judicial dilemma and analysis of express service contract disputes.By studying the judgment documents concerning disputes over express delivery services in the past three years,it is found that in most cases judicial practice,the effectiveness of the insured clause is the main focus of dispute.However,due to the fact that there is still controversy about the validity of the insured clauses in the theoretical circles,the judges have a misunderstanding of the relevant specifications of the format clauses,and there are problems of different judgments in the same case in the disputes of express service contracts.The fourth part is to regulate the format clauses of express service contract.This part is mainly based on the improvement suggestions put forward on the issues mentioned above: first,in terms of legal regulation,China’s rules for the inclusion of format clauses should be improved as soon as possible;the provisions of "reasonable prompting and explanation obligations" for express delivery companies;On the basis of drawing on the relevant provisions of the "German Civil Code",issue judicial interpretations as soon as possible to clarify the rules for judging the validity of China’s standard clauses.Secondly,in response to the unfair format clauses formulated by express delivery companies at this stage,the Interim Regulations on Express Delivery should be revised for effective regulation.Finally,the obligations and responsibilities of China’s express delivery enterprises should be strengthened,and by promoting the development of express liability insurance,the risk distribution mechanism of the express delivery industry should be better improved.