Integrationsklausuler i svensk avtalsrätt
(2018) JURM02 20181Department of Law
Faculty of Law
- Abstract (Swedish)
- Integrationsklausuler har sitt ursprung i den angloamerikanska rätten och är numera vanligt förekommande i svenska kommersiella avtal. Avsikten med en integrationsklausul är att göra enbart det skriftliga avtalets innehåll giltigt som underlag för avtalets innebörd. Frågan om integrationsklausulers rättsverkan i svensk avtalsrätt har inte besvarats i varken lagtext eller praxis. Emellertid har detta diskuterats i doktrinen.
Uppsatsen redogör för de avtalsrättsliga regler och principer som blir relevanta vid prövningen av en integrationsklausuls rättsverkan. Dessutom förklaras reglerna för den svenska avtalstolkningen för att underbygga en analys av hur en svensk domstol sannolikt skulle tolka en integrationsklausul. De köprättsliga och... (More) - Integrationsklausuler har sitt ursprung i den angloamerikanska rätten och är numera vanligt förekommande i svenska kommersiella avtal. Avsikten med en integrationsklausul är att göra enbart det skriftliga avtalets innehåll giltigt som underlag för avtalets innebörd. Frågan om integrationsklausulers rättsverkan i svensk avtalsrätt har inte besvarats i varken lagtext eller praxis. Emellertid har detta diskuterats i doktrinen.
Uppsatsen redogör för de avtalsrättsliga regler och principer som blir relevanta vid prövningen av en integrationsklausuls rättsverkan. Dessutom förklaras reglerna för den svenska avtalstolkningen för att underbygga en analys av hur en svensk domstol sannolikt skulle tolka en integrationsklausul. De köprättsliga och standardavtalsrättsliga regler som kan bli relevanta för bedömningen av integrationsklausuler diskuteras också. Vidare presenteras de regler om integrationsklausuler som framkommer i relevanta internationella regler och principsamlingar. I dessa föreskrivs att integrationsklausuler som utgångspunkt bör ges rättsverkan i förhållande till avtalspreliminärer. Frågan om vilken vikt som kan tillmätas dessa principsamlingar i svensk rätt är inte utredd, men mycket talar för att de åtminstone blir relevanta vid utfyllning eller för frågor till vilka svensk rätt inte ger något svar. Dessutom presenteras ett rättsfall från HD som fastslår att ändringsklausuler, vilka utgör en framåtsyftande variant av integrationsklausuler, i princip saknar verkan i svensk rätt. Ur ett rättsfall från Arbetsdomstolen och två skiljedomar kan dock en försiktigt positiv inställning till integrationsklausulers möjliga rättsverkan utläsas.
Genom att tillämpa de relevanta reglerna görs en bedömning av vilken rättsverkan integrationsklausuler sannolikt skulle tillerkännas av en svensk domstol. Slutsatsen är att integrationsklausuler bör anses utesluta avtalspreliminärer från avtalsförhållandet. Dessutom bör avtalspreliminärer sakna betydelse vid den initiala tolkningen av avtalets innebörd. Om denna tolkning inte ger något klart besked bör emellertid domstolen kunna tillmäta avtalspreliminärerna betydelse för att fastställa avtalsinnebörden. Att utesluta dispositiv rätt från bedömningen av avtalets innebörd bör vara teoretiskt möjligt, men förmodligen erfordras en mer specifikt utformad klausul än en allmänt hållen integrationsklausul. (Less) - Abstract
- Merger clauses originate from Anglo American law but have become a commonly used type of clause in Swedish commercial contracts. The purpose of a merger clause is to exclude all considerations apart from the written contract from the interpretation of the contract. The question of what legal effect the merger clauses have in Swedish contract law has not been answered, neither in written law nor in case law. The matter has however been debated in legal doctrine.
In the thesis, the relevant rules and principles of contract law when assessing the legal effect of merger clauses are described. The rules of interpretation of Swedish contracts are also explained, to substantiate the analysis of the likely interpretation of a merger clause by a... (More) - Merger clauses originate from Anglo American law but have become a commonly used type of clause in Swedish commercial contracts. The purpose of a merger clause is to exclude all considerations apart from the written contract from the interpretation of the contract. The question of what legal effect the merger clauses have in Swedish contract law has not been answered, neither in written law nor in case law. The matter has however been debated in legal doctrine.
In the thesis, the relevant rules and principles of contract law when assessing the legal effect of merger clauses are described. The rules of interpretation of Swedish contracts are also explained, to substantiate the analysis of the likely interpretation of a merger clause by a Swedish court of law. Legislation on sales of goods and standard form contracts which may be relevant is also described. Furthermore, relevant rules on merger clauses from international principles and model rules are described. In these, merger clauses are generally given the legal effect of excluding prior statements, undertakings or agreements from the contract. The question of what importance these rules have in Swedish law is not clarified. There is however reason to believe that they have relevance when the court fills out the contract with the help of optional law and in solving legal questions which cannot be solved through the application of Swedish law. Furthermore, a case from the Supreme Court of Sweden is presented which affirms the fact that written modification rules, a prospective version of merger clauses, essentially have no effect in Swedish law. A case from the Swedish Labour Court and two arbitration awards are presented, showing signs of a view permitting legal effect of merger clauses in Swedish law.
Through application of the relevant rules, an assessment is made of what legal effect merger clauses most likely would be given by a Swedish court of law. It is concluded that merger clauses are likely to have the effect of making prior statements, undertakings and agreements non-binding between the parties and excluding them from being of use in the initial interpretation of the purpose of the contract. However, if this interpretation fails to produce a clear answer to the purpose of the contract, the prior statements, undertakings and agreements will likely be the basis of a new attempt to determine the purpose of the contract. To exclude optional law from the judgement of the purpose of the contract should theoretically be possible, but to achieve this effect the contract must probably contain a more specifically written provision than a generic merger clause. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/8941487
- author
- Gyulai, Filip LU
- supervisor
-
- Ola Svensson LU
- organization
- alternative title
- Merger clauses in Swedish contract law
- course
- JURM02 20181
- year
- 2018
- type
- H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
- subject
- keywords
- Avtalsrätt
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 8941487
- date added to LUP
- 2018-06-15 10:27:09
- date last changed
- 2018-06-15 10:27:09
@misc{8941487,
abstract = {{Merger clauses originate from Anglo American law but have become a commonly used type of clause in Swedish commercial contracts. The purpose of a merger clause is to exclude all considerations apart from the written contract from the interpretation of the contract. The question of what legal effect the merger clauses have in Swedish contract law has not been answered, neither in written law nor in case law. The matter has however been debated in legal doctrine.
In the thesis, the relevant rules and principles of contract law when assessing the legal effect of merger clauses are described. The rules of interpretation of Swedish contracts are also explained, to substantiate the analysis of the likely interpretation of a merger clause by a Swedish court of law. Legislation on sales of goods and standard form contracts which may be relevant is also described. Furthermore, relevant rules on merger clauses from international principles and model rules are described. In these, merger clauses are generally given the legal effect of excluding prior statements, undertakings or agreements from the contract. The question of what importance these rules have in Swedish law is not clarified. There is however reason to believe that they have relevance when the court fills out the contract with the help of optional law and in solving legal questions which cannot be solved through the application of Swedish law. Furthermore, a case from the Supreme Court of Sweden is presented which affirms the fact that written modification rules, a prospective version of merger clauses, essentially have no effect in Swedish law. A case from the Swedish Labour Court and two arbitration awards are presented, showing signs of a view permitting legal effect of merger clauses in Swedish law.
Through application of the relevant rules, an assessment is made of what legal effect merger clauses most likely would be given by a Swedish court of law. It is concluded that merger clauses are likely to have the effect of making prior statements, undertakings and agreements non-binding between the parties and excluding them from being of use in the initial interpretation of the purpose of the contract. However, if this interpretation fails to produce a clear answer to the purpose of the contract, the prior statements, undertakings and agreements will likely be the basis of a new attempt to determine the purpose of the contract. To exclude optional law from the judgement of the purpose of the contract should theoretically be possible, but to achieve this effect the contract must probably contain a more specifically written provision than a generic merger clause.}},
author = {{Gyulai, Filip}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Integrationsklausuler i svensk avtalsrätt}},
year = {{2018}},
}