SIGNIFICANT CHANGE OF CIRCUMSTANCES AND THE AMENDMENT OF CONTRACT

INTRODUCTION The judgment and treatment of the greater or lesser changes in circumstances belongs to the field of contract law. Though the obligation law rules, including contract law provisions, give the dynamics of civil law, the various legal transactions and contracts to be concluded basically reflect a given time; the contractual parties’ rights and duties are fixed with regard to the circumstances existing at the time of the conclusion of the contract. However, over time, changes can occur in the circumstances of the contract, which can impact on the durable contractual relationship existing between the parties, including their rights and duties, and particularly on the duty to fulfil the contract. All legal systems have its own solution for the treatment of the essential (substantial) change of circumstance subsequent to the conclusion of the contract. Although in these cases, the contractual parties’ autonomy prevail primarily, some legal system allows the judicial amendment of the contract, if the conditions of the clausula rebus sic stantibus are fulfilled1. There are other states, where the possibility to amend the contract by judicial act in case of an essential change of circumstances subsequent to the contract conclusion has only recently been recognised by the national legislation. Moreover, it is also noteworthy that these relatively new regulations bound the application of the contract amendment by judicial act to strict limits2. It is typical that the essential change of circumstances and its effects on the contractual relationship attracted more and more attention from the legislation and the jurisprudence, when historic events having global effect occurred. It was after the World War I, when the modern