This collection of essays provides a rich and contemporary discussion of the principle of pacta sunt servanda. This principle, which requires that valid agreements are to be honoured, is a cornerstone of contract law. Focusing on contributions from Asia, this book shows that, despite its natural and universal appeal, the pacta sunt servanda principle is neither absolute nor immutable. Exceptions to the binding force of contract must be available in limited circumstances to avoid hardship and unfairness.

This book offers readers new comparative perspectives on the appropriate balance between contractual certainty and flexibility in an era of social instability. Expert authors, mostly from East and Southeast Asia, explore when their domestic legal systems allow exceptions from the binding force of contracts. Doctrines discussed include impossibility, frustration, change of circumstance, force majeure, illegality as well as rights of withdrawal. Other chapters consider the importance of the pacta principle in international law. The challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic feature strongly in the majority of contributions.

Part A. Pacta sunt servanda in changing times

1 Pacta sunt servanda, the common law, and Hong Kong

Stephen Hall

2 Exceptions to pacta sunt servanda in the Chinese Civil Code

Siyi Lin

3 In a Bubble by the Sea: COVID-19, Time and Contract Law in the Macau S.A.R.
Célia F. Matias and Monica Chan

4 Contracts in the time of COVID-19: common law and statutory solutions in Singapore

Wayne Courtney

5 The principle of pacta sunt servanda and its exceptions under Japanese contract law

Tomohiro Yoshimasa

6 Change of circumstances in Korean contract law: An exception to pacta sunt servanda

Boeun Chang

Part B. Pacta sunt servanda in specific contexts

7 The property management service contract with Chinese characteristics: An exception to pacta sunt servanda?

Jianbo Lou and Yimeng Ye

8 Pacta sunt servanda in the age of cryptocurrency: The case of China

Chao Xi

9 Post-employment non-compete agreements under the Taiwan Labour Standards Act and pacta sunt servanda

Yalun Yen

10 Pacta sunt servanda and the consumer’s right of withdrawal

Geraint Howells

11 Contract enforcement during the Global Financial Crisis: Lessons for the coming tsunami

Kingsley Ong

Part C. Pacta sunt servanda in international law

12 Invoking COVID-19 to suspend or terminate the operation of a treaty

Hanh Hong Pham and Huong Thi Thu Phung

13 Treaties and pacta sunt servanda: A shared concept for the PRC?

Noble Po-kan Lo

14 Pacta sunt servanda: Comfort letters in an age of instability and strategic rivalry

Joel Slawotsky

Part D. Conclusion

15 Pacta sunt servanda – a maxim and its exceptions in comparative perspective

Normann Witzleb