美國契約法中違約損害賠償責任之探討：以信賴利益為中心

A Discussion on Damages for Breach of Contract of the U.S. Contract Law: Centered on the Reliance Interest

本文藉由美國契約法有關違約損害賠償責任之討論，探究期待利益與信賴利益的適用。無論英美法系或大陸法系，向來皆以期待利益的損害賠償作為違約救濟的基本準則，然仍有無法完全彌補當事人損失的情形，特別是當契約因故無效或不成立時，受有損害之一方無從要求他方負債務不履行之責任，因而發生求償無門的不公平狀況。是故信賴利益損害賠償請求權的建立，即在為信賴契約有效之當事人，尋求救濟的途徑。我國民法透過特別規定，賦予當事人請求信賴利益損害賠償之基礎；美國法則是透過判例法及法律整編，勾勒出更細緻之信賴利益的規範。本文以著名的Fuller契約利益分類理論以及現行美國實務判決為基礎，將討論的重心落在信賴利益的適用，是否應以契約無效為前提，希冀通過美國法觀點的介紹，提供我國對民法相關議題的再思考。 The article’s discussion is focused on the damages for breach of contract regulated in the U.S. contract law, especially on the analysis of the reliance interest. It makes no difference between Civil Law or Common Law system that the main interest of contract to be protected is the expectation interest. However, as the contract is void due to some intervening events, the damaged party may not be remedied since the contractual relation is vanished. The reliance interest is created to put the promisee in the position he would have been in had the promise not been made in the first place. This category of contract interest is designed as special regulations in our Civil Law, when the U.S contract theory and case laws have framed the reliance interest in a more sophisticated way. The article is based on Fuller’s famous theory of contract interest clarification and U.S. case laws, and the discussion is centered on the question whether the reliance damages can be claimed only for void contract. Through the introduction of American contract theory, the author hopes to provide some different viewpoints for civil law makers in our country to rethink the issue.