英文合同解读技巧

篇一：英文合同解读技巧

英文合同解读技巧 第一章英文合同概述(General Introduction)

In view of all this, we are making a binding agreement, putting it in writing, and our leaders, our Levites and our priests are affixing their seals to it.（Nehemiah BIBLE NIV） 因这一切的事，我们立确实的约，写在册上。我们的首领，利未人，和祭司都签了名。【尼西米】《圣经》新国际版

合同，古称契约（港台现仍多用此语），“契”者即证券，证明买卖、抵押、租赁等关系的文书，如契据、房契等。古代典籍中常见此语，《易系辞》就有“后时圣人易之以书契。”“约”者即共同商定的事,共同议定要遵守的条文，如和约、条约等。《三国演义》中就有“昔高祖约法三章,黎民皆感其德。”

而西方在早在〈〈圣经〉〉中就有关于上帝在西乃山与以色列人立约的记载。挪亚方舟就是籍着上帝与挪亚的契约而建造的：But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee. （但我要与你立约，你以及你的儿子、妻子和儿媳，要与你一同进入方舟。）

第一节合同与协议(Contract and Agreement)

而在现代英语合同中，合同一般称为Contract，协议一般称为Agreement。那么Contract和Agreement是一回事吗？他们之间又有什么关系呢？《中华人民共和国民法通则》第85条规定：“合同是当事人之间设立、变更、终止民事关系的协议”（A contract shall be an agreement whereby the parties establish, change or terminate their civil relationship）。《中华人民共和国合同法》第二条规定：“合同是平等主体的自然人、法人、其他组织之间设立、变更、终止民事权利义务关系的协议”（Contracts referred to in this Law are agreements between equal natural persons, legal persons and other organizations for the purpose of establishing, altering and terminating mutual civil rights and obligations）。

美国法律整编合同法第二次汇编定义合同为：“合同乃为一个允诺或一组允诺。违反此一允诺时，法律给予救济；或其允诺之履行，法律在某些情况下视之为一项义务。”（A contract is a promise, or a set of promises, for breach of which the law gives a remedy, or the performance of which the law in some way recognizes as a duty.）（Restatement，Second, Contracts, Section 1）这一定义在Steven H. Gifts 编著的Law Dictionary被完全引述. 但一般而言，Contract，乃两个以上当事人间具有法律约束力之协议，或由一个以上当事人所为一组具有法律约束力之允诺。（A contract is a legally binding agreement between two or more parties or a set of legal binding promises made by one party or more.(G. C. Lindsay, Contract, 3rd ed. 1992) 这一表述在L.B. Curzon编撰的Dictionary of Law中概括为“A legally binding agreement creating enforceable obligations.” Chris Turner在其编撰的Contract Law中定义的更为具体明了“A contract is an agreement between two parties by which both are bound in law and which can therefore be enforced in a court or other equivalent forum.”即合同就是对合同方具有法律上约束力，可由法院或其他同等管辖地强制执行的协议。

而在Black’s Law Dictionary（Eighth Edition）对contract 的定义多达8项：1. An agreement two or more parties creating obligations that are enforceable or otherwise recognzable at law writing that set forth such an agreement.3.引述美国法律整编合同法第二次汇编“contract”的定义.4. Broadly, any legal duty or set of duties not imposed by the law of tort; esp., a duty created by a decree or declaration of a court. 5. The body of law dealing with agreement and exchange.6. The term of an agreement or any particular ely, a sale or conveyance. 8. Loosely, an enforceable agreement between two or more parties to do or not to do a thing or a set of things; a compact.

至于agreement，L.B. Curzon的Dictionary of Law定义为：“Ａ consensus of minds, or evidence of such consensus, in spoken or written form, relating to anything done or to be done.”是对已做和待做的有关事宜以口头或书面形式做出的相同意思表示或该意思表示的证据。而在Black’s Law Dictionary（Eighth Edition）给Agreement下了两个定义：一个是“A mutual understanding between two or more persons about their relative duites and obligations regarding past or future performances; a manifestation of mutual assent by two or more persons. ”即双方或多方就过去或将来的相关职责和义务的履行而达成相互的理解；双方或多方相互达成一致的表现形式。另一个是“The Parties’acutal bargain as found in their language or by implication from other circumstances, including course of dealing, usage of trade and course of performance.”即当事人通过语言或其他情形暗示而确立的实际约定，包括交易常例、贸易习惯以及履行惯例。

在ENGLISH-CHINISE BILINGUAL LAW DICTIONARY (2nd ed.)中对agreement作出了如下解释：

document setting out the contractual terms agreed between two parties or contract between two parties where one party makes an offer, and the other party accepts it.协议，协定，合同（列出双方当事人同意和约定条件的文件）

Contract(合同)和Agreement(协议)到底能不能相互替换呢？让我们来看看英文合同相关书籍和词典的说法。Chris Turner在其Contract Law中是这样阐述合同的成立：“There are three key ingredients to formation(of contracts): agreement-based on mutuality over the terms, agreement exists when a valid acceptance follows a valid offer; consideration-given by both sides, the quid pro quo, and the proof that the bargain exists; intention to create legal relations-since a contract is legally enforceable, unlike mere gratuitous promises. 即合同成立的三个要件：协议（基于要约与承诺形成对条款的相互一致而存在）、约因（双方付出的对价及对价存在的证据）和设立法律关系的意愿。（合同具有法律上的执行力，不同于纯粹的无偿赠予的允诺）这里也是用agreement来解释contract的，认为contract（合同）是一种符合一定条件的`agreement（协议）。

在英语法律用语中虽然多用“agreement”来解释“contract”，其实也有偶用“contract”解释“agreement”的情形，如：Agreement,(2) A contract (The Law Dictionary) 甚至有在同一句中交替使用的实例，如：If the contract contains an innocent mistake, you can get out of the agreement if the mistake is important. (What Should I Know About Contracts, The State Bar of California, 2 Edi. 1984), 还有更为明确的：Agreement. Synonym for Contract (Robert LeRoy& Kenneth A. Buths, Business Law and Taxes, “Glossary”, 1984)

而在Black’s Law Dictionary对agreement的注释中也能看到“The term’agreement’ frequently as synymous with the word”contract”, is really an expression greater breath of meaning and less technicality. Every contract is an agreement,; but not every agreement is a contract. In its colloquial sense, the term ‘agreement’ would include any arrangement between two or more persons intended to affect their relations (whether legal or otherwise) to each other. An accepted invitation to dinner, for example, would be an agreement in this sense; but it would not be a contract, because it would neither be intended to create, nor would it in fact create, any legal obligation between the parties to it. Further, even an agreement which is intended to affect the obligations of the parties does not necessarily amount to a contract in the strict sense of the term. For instance, a conveyance of land or a gift of a chattel, though involving an agreement is … not a contract; because its primary legal operation is to effect a transfer of property, and not to create an obligation.” 2 Stephen’s Commmentaries on the laws of England 5 (L. Crispin Warmington ed., 21st ed. 1950).

“An agreement, as the courts have said, ‘is nothing more than a mannefestation of mutual assent’ by two or more legally competent persons to one another’ by two or more legally competent persons to one another. Agreementis in some respects a broader term than contract, or even than bargain or promise. It covers excluded sales, gifts, and other transfers of property.” Samuel Williston, A Treaties on the Law of Contracts at 6 (Walter H.E. Jaeger ed., 3d ed.1957).

综上所述，我们不难看出，汉语的法律用语仅用协议来解释合同，而英语的法律用语往往不很严格，多用Agreement解释Contract, 但也有用Contract解释Agreement的情形, 虽说大多情况Contract与Agreement有所区别，有时候两者还可以作为同义词互换使用。可以说contract都是协议，但协议不一定就是Contract。但就广义的协议和合同来讲，还是有区别的：

从成立的宗旨上看，协议十分宽泛不囿于为了当事人间形成法律或其他关系，即便是为影响当事人的义务也未必形成严格意义上的合同关系，如不动产转让或动产赠与。

从内容、条款上看，合同较为具体、详尽，着眼于微观，而协议则较为原则、粗疏，致力于宏观。实践中往往合作方就某一项目达成协议对有关原则问题作出约定，然后在此基础上签订合同，再全面明确各项具体的细节。

从涉及范围上看，合同的标的往往比较单一集中，也很明确；通常都是一事一议，就事论事，而协议的标的往往比较广泛；一项大型项目的协议往往包括或分解成若干个具体的合同。

从书写格式上看，合同已基本格式化了，大家可以看到许多的合同范本；而协议的格式相对灵活一些，没有什么固定的格式。

而狭义的协议和合同并无分别，只是用语上和习惯上的称呼而已。

第二节合同的种类与名称（Categories and Titles）

一份英文法律文件, 到底是不是英文合同, 就要看它的内容是否符合合同的要求。一般而言合同不外乎包括人、事、时、地、物五大要素，也就是4W1H (Who, When, Where, What, How),如果你手上的文件内容包括了这五项要素而且签署生效，该文件就应该具有了合同的性质，而不论它是以何面目出现的。常见的英文合同名

称可分为以下四大类：

一、合同、协议（Contract; Agreement）

文件名称直接标明“Contract”或“Agreement”是最常见的英文合同。《中华人民共和国》第九章到第二十三章就合同种类作了概括，它们分别是买卖合同；供用电、水、气、热力合同；赠与合同；借款合同；租赁合同；融资租赁合同；承揽合同；建设工程合同；运输合同；技术合同；保管合同；仓储合同；委托合同；行纪合同；居间合同等十五大类。（Sales Contracts, Contracts for Supply of Power, Water, Gas or Heat, Donation Contracts, Loan Contracts, Leasing Contracts, Financial Leasing Contract, Work-for-hire Contracts, Construction Project Contracts, Carriage Contracts, Technology Contracts, Safe-keeping Contracts, Warehousing Contracts, Agency Appointment Contracts, Commission Agency Contracts, Brokerage Contracts） 而常见的协议有委托代理协议（Agency Agreement）、合伙协议( Partnership Agreement、股份转让协议(Shares Assignment Agreement)、保密协议(Confidentiality Agreement)、竞业禁止协议(Non-compete Agreement)、聘用协议（Employment Agreement）等等。

二、意向书（Letter of Intent）

文件名称如果标明“Letter of Intent”, “Memorandum of Understanding”(简称MOU, 通常翻译为谅解备忘录)，甚至只称为“Memorandum”（简称Memo，通常称之为备忘录）。另外，也有标明“Minute of Talks”(即会谈纪要)。

这些法律文件往往是当事人双方在商洽合作中形成的，可以称之为准合同文件，虽然，从名称上看，它们似乎不是合同或者协议，但这些法律文件，如果经当事人签订，即具有一定的法律约束力。甚至，由于没有形成正式的合同或协议，而径直依据这些文件而进行实质的合作，使之具有合同或协议的性质。那就是说，合同的效力不能被其名称所拘束，如果上述的法律文件，其中完整明确地记载了交易的条款，当事人如果依据该条款内容履行，双方也能达成交易目的。那么这份法律文件就应当视为双方的合同或者协议。

三、契约（Covenant, Indenture, Deed, Compact，Protocol）

英文合同还有一些约定俗成的名称。Covenant, 主要指不动产转让的合同或证明文件，英文合同如果基于传统英美法对价的存在，也会用到这个词, 表示双方达成的契约。如：In consideration of mutual premises and covenants herein contained, the parties hereto agree as follows: Indenture通常也是指不动产转让的契约文件，Deed一般指地契、房契，Compact多用于国家间的协定、协议。

Protocol, 通常翻译为草约或者议定书，往往也是双方会谈结果的文字依据。经双方签字后，即受其约束，对草约内容承担法律责任，如果需要补充、修改、完善，双方还会签订补充的协议。

四、其他书函（Letter; Waiver; Guaranty; Power of Attorney）

英文合同有时候非常简短，形式上就像信函一样，姑且称之为书函类的英文合同，常常用"Letter"（函），"Waiver"（弃权书），"Guaranty"（保证书），"Power of Attorney"（委托书）等简单明确的字眼作为合同的名称。相对于"Agreement"或"Contract"类的合同，书函类的合同一般具有补充或附属的性质，而且经常出现在

“Agreement”或“Contract”类合同的附件中。当然书函类的合同对双方当事人也有完全的拘束力。

例如：甲公司向乙银行贷款，由丙公司做担保人，通常甲公司与乙银行会签署一份总协议（General Agreement），做为双方往来的主要依据，再由丙公司签署一份保证书（Guaranty）给乙银行，而乙银行每次拨款时，会发出一份授信书（Credit Letter或Facility Letter）给甲公司，授信书上会载明授信额度，作为甲公司申请拨款的依据。由本例中三份合同可以看出，General Agreement系授信的主要依据，甲公司和丙银行间的权利义务关系主要由General Agreement来规范，而Guaranty及Credit Letter均为附属在General Agreement架构下的小合同。丙公司因签署了Guaranty，因此对乙银行负有保证义务，乙银行因为签署了Credit Letter，因此对甲公司就发生了拨款的义务。

本书撰写的方式，是针对名称为"Agreement（狭义）"或"Contract"类型的合同文件做阅读方法的说明，其原因即在于此类文件的合同结构复杂而内容完整，读者若能掌握阅读此类合同的要领，阅读其它类型的英文合同时自然就“No Problem”没问题了。