ABSTRACT
This article analyses and compares the rules applying to contractual penalties in Austria, Germany, France, Italy and England, as well as under the UNIDROIT Principles on International Commercial Contracts, PICC and the Principles of European Contract Law, PECL. Also, the different approaches found in these legal systems are scrutinised with regards to their practical implications for contracting parties. More specifically, some civil law regimes unduly restrict the signalling function of contractual penalties. This is quite surprising in B2B contracts and while this aims at protecting a contracting party from promising a large penalty, it also restricts the use of one of the cheapest marketing instruments available to a contracting party.
Doralt, Walter, Penalty Clauses in Commercial Contracts (February 10, 2021). Graz Law Working Paper No 03-2021.
First posted 2021-02-11 06:48:46
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