Hardship and Renegotiation of Contracts in the Prospective Recodification of Italian Civil Law

Abstract

The aim of the present essay is to analyse the new normative proposal on change of circumstances and to shed light on its scope of application, its potentialities and its shortcomings. The first part will indicate the reasons why a modification of the existing law is needed, also in consideration of the COVID-19 crisis and the difficulties in finding a fair solution capable of balancing the parties’ interests in ongoing contracts (B.). The contribution will then devote attention to the comparative background, as the problem of supervening events gave rise to several legislative interventions, not only in the European context (C.). A detailed scrutiny of the proposed Italian provision on change of circumstances will follow, with respect to the systematic relationship to other remedies and the requirements for its application (D.). Finally, the paper offers some conclusions (E.).

Keywords: Contract law, Change of Circumstances, Renegotiation

JEL Classification: K10, K12