contract

in civil law, an agreement between two or more persons (citizens or legal persons) to establish, change, or curtail civil rights and obligations. The word “contract” also often refers to the compulsory legal relationship arising from the contract and to the document in which the relationship is expressed. Depending on the number of parties to a contract, it is classified as bilateral or multilateral. If a contract grants nothing but rights for one party and nothing but obligations for the other it is unilateral, but if the contract results in rights and obligations for both parties it is called bilateral. A loan contract is an example of a unilateral contract. Examples of bilateral contracts are contracts for sale and purchase, delivery contracts, independent-work contracts, and shipping contracts.

In Soviet civil law the contract is one of the most important foundations on which compulsory legal relationships arise. It is a means of establishing and organizing economic relationships among socialist enterprises—state, cooperative (including kolkhozes), and public —and other organizations that participate in Soviet economic transactions. The contract is also the basic legal form for the disposal of the personal property of citizens of the USSR.

According to the principle of specific performance that has been adopted in Soviet civil law, the contract should be performed in physical fact (for example, the product should be transferred or the work performed). The contract usually includes conditions that are incentives to specific performance of the parties’ obligations as established in the contract (for example, property liability [sanctions] for nonperformance, compensation for losses, and payment of a penalty).

The conditions established by the parties in the contract are called its content. The conditions that are recognized as essential in law or necessary to a contract of a given type (for example, the object and price in a contract for sale and purchase) are considered to be substantial; that is, they are the conditions without which it is impossible to conclude the contract. Also considered substantial are those conditions on which, according to the statement of one of the parties, agreement must be reached (for example, the condition on delivering the commodity in a certain container or packing). A contract is considered concluded when agreement is reached between the parties on all substantial points in the form appropriate for the given instance.

Contracts are classified according to form as simple contracts and contracts verified by notaries. Some contracts must be registered at appropriate state agencies. For example, contracts for sale of a residential building must be verified by a notary and registered at the executive committee of the local soviet of working people’s deputies if even one of the parties to the contract is a citizen. Consent to conclude a contract by the party who initiated the process is called the proposal (offer), and consent by the party who responds to the offer is called acceptance. If only the parties’ reaching agreement on all substantial points is required for a contract obligation to arise, the contract is called consensual (from the Latin consensus, agreement). An example of a consensual contract is a contract for sale and purchase. If, in addition to agreement, an actual transfer of goods is required for a contract obligation to arise, the contract is called real. For example, a shipping contract is considered concluded when the freight is turned over to the shipper.

A specific type of contract is the contract in favor of a third person. This contract gives the right to demand performance either from the person who concluded the contract and the third party in whose favor the contract was concluded or from only the third party, who did not participate in the conclusion of the contract either directly or through a representative. For example, in the USSR the right to demand payment of the amount of insurance on a life insurance contract in case of the death of the insured resides only with the third party in whose favor the contract was concluded. The question of the possibility of changing contract conditions in favor of a third party without the consent of that party is resolved in different ways, depending on the type of contract. For example, when a deposit is made in a savings bank in the name of a third party, that party is considered to be the depositor, and the person who made the deposit does not have the right to change the conditions of the contract or to receive the deposit. With life insurance, the insured has the right at any time to change the party in whose favor the contract has been concluded.

If the third party has refused the right given to him by the contract, the person who concluded the contract may take advantage of this right if it does not conflict with the law, the sense of the contract, or the substance of the obligation.

In Soviet civil law the manner in which contracts are concluded is determined by the Basic Principles of Civil Legislation of the USSR and Union Republics of 1961 and the civil codes of the union republics (for example the Civil Code of the RSFSR, arts. 160-65). The manner in which contracts are concluded between socialist organizations is also regulated by special rules. In instances established by law, contracts between these organizations may be concluded by accepting an order for performance. Disagreements that arise between state, cooperative (excluding kolkhoz), and public organizations during the conclusion of a contract based on a plan assignment that is compulsory for both parties are resolved by arbitrators (arbitration tribunal) if the law does not provide otherwise. Disagreements that arise during the conclusion of a contract not based on a plan assignment that is compulsory for both parties are resolved in the same way, if this is specially provided for by the law or by agreement of the parties.