Settlement and Release in European Legislation

Abstract

Since the current contractual practice demonstrates the active use of settlement and release construction by the parties of civil legal relations as one of the most flexible instruments of termination of an obligation, the issue of ensuring unity in the interpretation and practice of this legal institution remains relevant. The subject matter of this study is the norms of civil law of different Member States of the European Union, and the purpose is the study of the conceptual approaches of other states to the legislative consolidation of settlement and release structure, its recognition as one of the ways to terminate the obligation and specific features of the interpretation and application of this institution that will make it possible to enlarge the view on the essence and role of settlement and release within the system of grounds for the termination of civil obligation and national contractual practice.

The comparative and legal method was chosen as the main method of scientific research, due to which the author characterizes the main elements, purpose and essential features of legal constructions in civil law of other states, which are similar to the institution of settlement and release in Ukraine; the author pays attention to distinctive technical and legal peculiarities of civil legislation of some EU countries.

According to the results of the conducted research the author has established that civil legislation of the most European countries does not enshrine settlement and release as the institution of obligation law and does not recognize it as an independent method to terminate the obligation. At the same time, the codified acts of some states contain certain legal norms, which provide for cases of transferring a certain good by the debtor to the creditor instead of fulfillment of an obligation, as well as enshrine legal institutions that act as settlement and release.

The significance and practical significance of the paper is that the conducted study reveals new directions for further research, demonstrates the relevance and need for a more detailed and comprehensive analysis of the content and legal features of settlement and release, its importance and role in national contractual practice, as well as in the practice of other states.