国际商法5 Breach of Contract.pptVIP

Unit 5 Breach of the Contract When a person’s performance is due, any failure to perform that is not excused is a breach of contract. Not all breaches of contract are of equal seriousness, however. Some are relatively minor deviations, whereas others are so extreme that they deprive the promisee of the essence of what he bargained for. The legal consequences of a given breach depend on the extent of the breach. Classification of Contract Breach 1. Non-performance （1）Subjective non-performance不愿履行 （2）Objective non-performance履行不能 2. Late performance 3. Partial performance 4. Defective performance 5. Anticipatory Breach and Actual Breach 6. Material Breach and nonmaterial Breach Effect of Material Breach A material breach occurs when the promisor’s performance fails to reach the level of performance that the promisee is justified in expecting under the circumstances. The party who is injured by a material breach has the right to withhold his own performance. He is discharged from further obligations under the contract and may cancel it. He also has the right to sue for damages for total breach of contract. Effect of Nonmaterial Breach By contrast, when the breach is not serious enough to be material, the nonbreaching party may sue for only those damages caused by the particular breach. In addition, he does not have the right to cancel the contract, although a nonmaterial breach can give him the right to suspend his performance until the breach is remedied. Once the breach is remedied, the nonbreaching party must go ahead and render his performance, minus any damages caused by the breach. Determining the Materiality of the Breach The standard for determining materiality is a flexible one that takes into account the facts of each individual case. The key question is whether the breach deprives the injured party of the benefits that he reasonably expected. Anticipatory Repudiation One type of breach of contract occurs when the promisor ind