商鋪租賃合同的履行障礙及其救濟——基於疫情下糾紛處理實踐的回顧與反思

Remedies for Non-performance of Commercial Lease Contracts--Some Reviews and Reflections based on the Jurisprudence under the Epidemic

在’’後疫情時代’’，對司法實踐處理疫情糾紛的回顧和反思依然有重要的理論和實踐意義。商鋪租賃糾紛是其中最為典型的糾紛類型。面對疫情所導致的商事租賃合同履行障礙，在救濟層面主要反映為合同解除和變更制度的規範適用問題。對此，既有審判實踐在應對疫情糾紛上積累了一些重要的實踐經驗，但在對情勢變更和不可抗力制度的理解上，尚缺乏對商鋪租賃合同的權利義務配置的特殊性作更為審慎的判斷。即使在《民法典》背景下，對於承租人能否’’違約解除’’問題，只能借助誠實信用原則限制出租人濫用權利，例外地允許商鋪租賃因重大事由終止合同。對於在履行障礙發生前預付租金的情況，法官可以情勢變更調整租金。但通過對既有審判的梳理可以發現，依據公平原則變更合同存在對私人領域不當干涉的風險。在政策層面，較之減免租金，直接補助、扶持處在經營困境中的小微企業承租人或為未來應對疫情等公共衛生事件時更為可取的方向。

In the “post-epidemic era”, it is still of great theoretical and practical significance to review and reflect on the jurisprudence about the disputes resulting from epidemic. Commercial premises lease disputes are the most typical ones. In the face of the performance obstacles of the commercial premises lease contract caused by the epidemic, the application of the rules about the termination and modification of contract is particularly prominent at the remedy level. In this regard, there is some important practical experience accumulated in the jurisprudence, but in the understanding of the principle of change of situations and force majeure, it is necessary to make more prudent judgment combined with the particularity of the right and obligation allocation of the commercial premises lease contract. In according to the problem of “the right of termination of the parte in breach of contract’’, we can only use the principle of good faith to limit the abuse of rights by the lessor and exceptionally allow the commercial premises lease contracts terminated due to significant reasons. As for the cases where rent is paid in advance before the performance obstacles, judges may adjust rent based on the principle of change of situations, but there is a risk of undue interference in the private field when modifying the contract in accordance with the principle of fairness. At the policy level, compared with rent reduction, subsidies and support for small and micro enterprise lessees in operating difficulties seem to be a more desirable direction when confronting public health events such as an epidemic.