Application Of The Change Circumstances Rule Of The Lease Contract In The Context Of The Novel Coronavirus Epidemic

Since the emergence of the novel coronavirus epidemic in 2020,there has been a dispute over whether force majeure or change of circumstances rules apply to obstacles to the performance of rental contracts caused by the epidemic.Through the search of relevant cases,it is found that judicial judgments have a negative attitude towards the obstruction of the performance of housing lease contracts caused by the epidemic and the attitude of force majeure and change of circumstances rules,and the application of the principle of fairness as the basis for adjudication is the mainstream adjudication view.At the same time,there is a problem of selective application and repeated application for the selection of referee paths.Focus on the judicial issues of housing lease contracts in the context of the novel coronavirus epidemic,and analyze them one by one: first,how to choose rules for obstacles to the performance of rental contracts caused by the epidemic;second,the conditions for the application of the change of circumstances rule due to obstacles to the performance of the lease contract caused by the epidemic;Third,the procedural effect of applying the change of circumstances rule to the lease contract;Fourth,the substantive effect of applying the change of circumstances rule to the lease contract.First of all,in the context of the novel coronavirus epidemic,the choice of rules for obstacles to the performance of rental contracts: due to the different definitions of the nature of the novel coronavirus epidemic itself,"different judgments in the same case" often appear in judicial practice.It is meaningless to discuss the legal attributes of the novel coronavirus epidemic itself,and it is necessary to focus on the legal attributes of the novel coronavirus epidemic and its prevention and control measures that hinder the performance of housing rental contracts,and use this as a basis to resolve disputes.Force majeure can be used as the cause of the change of circumstances,by analyzing the extent of the novel coronavirus epidemic causing obstacles to the performance of the lease contract,the selection of rules,only completely unable to perform will apply the force majeure rules,partial performance can not be performed,temporary performance can not be applied to the change of circumstances rules,clarify the specific circumstances of the novel coronavirus epidemic housing lease contract selection to apply the change of circumstances rules.Secondly,clarify the conditions for the application of the change of circumstances rule to the lease contract under the background of the novel coronavirus epidemic: first,the unforeseeable scope includes the occurrence of unforeseeable changes and the extent and consequences of unforeseeable changes;second,continue to perform the determination that a party is manifestly unfair,and use the expected reduction of benefits as the criterion;Third,whether the change of circumstances rule can be extended should be analyzed in light of the specific situation affected by the epidemic and its prevention and control measures to prevent the abuse of the situation change rule.Third,the procedural effect of applying the change of circumstances rule is disputed whether the definition of the nature of the "renegotiation" procedure is a right,obligation or advocacy norm.In the context of the novel coronavirus epidemic,the "re-negotiation" of the application of the change of circumstances rule to the lease contract should be defined as an obligation,and the violation of the "renegotiation obligation" should bear the legal consequences of not being able to enter the judicial process.Finally,the substantive effect of applying the change of circumstances rule: Article 533 of the Civil Code is expressed as "modification or rescission of contract",and there is no clear provision on the order of application of modification and rescission of contract.Under the background of the novel coronavirus epidemic,the change of circumstances rule applies to housing lease contracts,and the principle of changing the contract should be adhered to,and the termination of the contract should be the exception.The scope of application and degree of rent reduction should be based on the provisions of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission and the actual situation affected by the novel coronavirus epidemic.