A Comparative Study of Examples of Unfair Terms in the Iranian and English Legal Systems

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

• Pari khaledi ¹
• Hosein jalali ²

¹ Dr Pari khaledi, Assistant professor of Department of Law , Faculty of literature and human science, Islamic Azad university, Mahabad, Iran. (corresponding Author )

² Assistant Professor of Law, Faculty of Law and Political Science , Karaj Branch , Islamic Azad University, Alborz, Iran.

Abstract

Unfair terms are imposed by one of the parties on the other party by abusing his/her socio-economic status or expertise. Given the governance of the principle of freedom of will, to solve the problems arising from the absolute acceptance of this principle, the legislator has intervened in special lawa under various excuses. By abiding the rule of fairness and justice, the courts have dealt with this category of unfair terms and have decided to invalidated all or parts of the contract or modify it. This study aimed to investigate some examples of unfair terms and the strategies applied by legal systems of Iran and England in dealing with such terms. Of the examples of unfair terms, we can refer to limitation of liability clause, penal clause, as well as additional and standard contracts. The most important legal sources of unfair terms in Iranian law, in addition to the common law (civil law), include special laws such as maritime law, labor law, e-commerce law, and protection law for motor vehicle consumers. The legal control of unjust contract terms by the legislator and assigning the evaluation of these terms to the courts are considered as two monitoring methods in England, whaich are not accepted in Iranian law except in special laws and under exceptional conditions.

Keywords

• Unfair Terms
• Iranian Legal System
• English Legal System

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