2012年民事法發展回顧：民事財產法裁判回顧

Developments in the Law in 2012: Civil Law

在2012年期間，最高法院作成許多在民法理論發展上具有重要性的判決。具有新穎性判決者，如當事人合意依契約書的「附件」確定標的時，若該附件於訂約時不存在，即屬法律行為標的無法確定，致法律行為無效。又如給付不能所生損害賠償請求權消滅時效的起算點，應自債務人陷於給付不能時起算，再延長15年。此外，最高法院認為，不法行為所從事的法律行為本身，仍得成立表見代理，顯然變更過去的見解。最後，最高法院在高爾夫球會員俱樂部案件，認為不定期繼續性契約關係，會員具有任意終止權，得請求返還入會之保證金，具有保護消費者權益的功能。

The Supreme Court declared many important judgments that had great impact on the legal theories of the civil law in 2012. They featured some key issues as follows.
1. Newly developed doctrine: The Court holds that a contract is void where the “attached document” indicating the distribution of properties is absent when it is entered into.
2. Revision of former doctrine: The Court holds that the juridical act can be done by an agent acting without its authority even if it gets involved in a wrongful act.
3. New doctrine distinct from legal theory: The Court holds that the statute of limitations for the claim on damages due to the impossibility of performance gets start to run from the time when the performance becomes impossible.
4. New interpretation on the doctrine of good faith: The Court holds that it was not in violation of good faith where the plaintiff made a claim against the defendant even if 27 years had elapsed since the plaintiff made a claim last time.
5. Protection of consumer’s rights: The Court holds that a member of a golf club is entitled to terminate a contract at any time and to claim the recovery of his membership deposits paid since such a contract is a continuous service contract without specific duration of time.