DCFR의 Lease of Goods

Abstract

This article has focused on lease of goods in DCFR. This research is meaningful in three aspects. First, I participated in studying the enormous intellectual works by European legal scholars to uniform European private law. Second, I had opportunity to explore the part on lease of goods in contract law. It is hard to study and teach this part because most of time focusing on contracts based on sale in researches and lectures. Even facing this part, I have rather emphasized the lease of real property. Third, this academic journey may be beneficial to Korean legal scholars, studying the recodification of Korean Civil Code, by providing raw materials for law reform. This paper started by comparing lease of goods in DCFR with in UCC based on a table of contents. Book IV. Part B of DCFR describes lease of goods with seven chapters; General Provision, Lease Period, Obligations of the Lessor, Remedies of the Lessee, Obligations of the Lessee, Remedies of the Lessor, and New Parties and Sublease. The lease of goods in DCFR is formed with traditional concepts, obligations and remedies. Both a lessor and a lessee are entitled to certain rights and obligations by lease contract. Such rights and obligation are reciprocal to the lessor and lessee. The most significant chapters in lease of goods may be from chapter three to chapter six describing the obligations and remedies of the lessor and lessee. They are about the legal remedies of one party and their resources if the other party fails to perform his or her own obligation. When a lessor fails to perform the obligation of his or her own part, a lessee may claim to enforce the part of nonperformance or to compensate his or her damage, and vice versa. Therefore, two chapters must clarify what a lessor or lessee is obligated in lease contract. Chapter two describing lease period means the essential element of lease contracts in explaining what the characteristic of lease contract is. The lease contract is for one party to provide the other party with a temporary right of use of goods in exchange for rent. On the other hand, the other party has to return the right to one party when the lease contract is terminate. The period for rent is an essential element in defining lease contract. That is why lease period is located at second in whole chapter. DCFR on the lease of goods has pointed out two concepts. First, it conceptually distinguishes the lease of goods from the financial lease by who is entitled with ownership. Second, it differentiates a consumer lease from an ordinary lease depending on whether the lessor is a business or not while the lessee is a consumer.