Complex commercial litigations often stem from disputes arising out the conclusion, interpretation or performance of a contract leading the litigants to refer to the contractual provisions and to statutory law supplemented by case law.

French contract law is mostly set forth in the French Civil Code, which was substantially amended by Ordinance No. 2016-131 of 10 February 2016 ratified by Law No. 2018-287 of 20 April 2018. The purpose of this reform was to modernise French contract law and to increase its readability by codifying the landmark cases of the past two centuries. Barring minor exceptions, contracts entered into force and court proceedings commenced before 1 October 2016 remain subject to the former provisions of the French Civil Code. Contracts entered into force after 1 October 2016 are governed by the provisions created by the Ordinance, as clarified by Law No. 2018-287. However, certain formal amendments resulting from Law No. 2018-287 only apply to contracts entered into force after 1 October 2018.

Originally published in The Complex Commercial Litigation Law Review - January 2019.