Wpływ działań wojennych na stosunki cywilnoprawne (wybrane zagadnienia)

Abstract

In civil law, the consequences of war manifest themselves in the disturbance of contractual balance, signifi cant difficulties or impossibility to fulfil obligations. In order to duly perform the preventive function in economic transactions, civil law should provide for standards which counteract and smooth away the negative impact of economic and financial instability in business trading so as to ensure appropriate protection to parties to agreements. In the Polish Civil Code, the legislator does not use the word “war” or any other equivalent term. From among the Civil Code regulations concerning relations between civil law entities, the notions of the Force Majeure and the rebus sic stantibus clause are of major significance from the point of view of legal practice in the circumstances of acts of war and in all kinds of armed conflicts. Force Majeure is referred to directly in art. 121 item 4, art. 433, art. 435 and art. 846 § 1 of the Polish Civil Code. In the Civil Code, the Force Majeure serves two basic functions: firstly, of a condition indemnifying against risk and, secondly, of a factor causing suspension of the limitation period for claims. Force Majeure is defined in several ways. Currently prevails the objective concept of the Force Majeure, which defines it as an extraordinary and unpreventable phenomenon. The standpoint that actions of individuals (human beings) might meet the description of Force Majeure, although arouses controversies, is accepted by the Supreme Court. Moreover, it is obvious that, whatever the detailed understanding of the Force Majeure, acts of war meet the criteria of the notion pursuant to each and every theoretical presentation thereof in the doctrine and judicature. One of the institutions used for the purpose of modifying the contractual relationships, the fulfilment of which was hindered significantly due to World War II, was the rebus sic stantibus clause regulated in art. 269 of the code of obligations. The Polish Civil Code regulates it in art. 357. Whether the rebus sic stantibus clause can be used for mitigation of the consequences of war is determined by the qualification of armed conflict as an extraordinary change in the relationships. Through its universal character and consequences, which not only include change of the services, but also termination of the agreement provided for in art. 357 of the Polish Civil Code, the rebus sic stantibus clause might have the widest application from among the legal instruments stipulated in the Polish Civil Code in the event of a potential armed conflict.