Studier kring 36 § avtalslagen med inriktning på rent kommersiella förhållanden

Sammanfattning: In 1976 the Swedish Contracts Act was amended by the introduction of a new, so called 'general clause' stipulating provisions concerning modification and settings aside of contract terms. The provisions are applied in the first place when a contract term is found unreasonable. A similar general provision was introduced in Denmark in 1975 and in Finland and Norway in 1983. The Nordic countries have thus acted in co-operation with each other in the field of contract law. The promulgation of the Swedish general clause was preceded by extensive preparatory work. In this preparatory work, which is important for the way in which the courts can be expected to apply the provisions of the general clause, a large number of applications were discussed and exemplified.The study, which focuses on commercial relationships, has two main objectives. One, to give an account of the current status of the law with regard to the application of the general clause in Sweden and the above-mentioned Nordic Countries, and secondly, to examine the relationship between the applications stipulated in the preparatory materials and current judicial practice.The following results can be observed. The general clause has been used sparingly and with great caution in commercial relations. The study indicates no real deviations from the intentions of the preparatory materials in the judicial practice. The apprehensions expressed in the preparatory materials concerning deterioration of legal security have not been realised. The legal unity of the Nordic countries in the field of contract law has been maintained, and Danish, Finnish and Norwegian case law should provide guidelines for judicial practice in Sweden.The study is accompanied by a Summary in English