英國契約法上의 條件, 擔保 그리고 中間條項

Conditions, Warranties and Intermidiate Terms in English Contract Law

The contractual terms have traditionally been divided by English law into conditions and warranties. A condition is a contractual term any breach of which provides the party not in breach with a right to claim damages and a right to terminate the performance of the contract. On the other hand, a warranty is a contractual term the breach of which provides the party not in breach with a right to claim damages, but does not give rise to a right to terminate the performance of the contract. However, in the 1950s and 1960s, it came to be said that there was a category of terms mid-way between the condition and the warranty - innominate, or intermediate terms. Accordingly, although every breach of an intermediate term will give rise to a right to claim damages, the breach may or may not also give rise to a right to terminate the performance of the contract. The concept of intermediate term gives rise to some uncertainty in the law since the distinction between contractual terms is no longer clear-cut. On the other hand, the existence of a third category of terms makes the law more flexible. Therefore, this paper is intended to investigate the legal principles of condition, warranty and intermediate term in English contract law. And then, if possible, I want to derscribe what the legal principles of English law suggests to Korean civil law.