The principle of the compulsory force of the contract, expressed in the synthetic formula pacta sunt servanda represented the key stone of every convention concluded under the regulation of the French Civil Code, which influenced the majority of the European civil legislations, including the Romanian Civil Code, adopted in 1864. 

 

Under this apprehension, the French Cour de Cassation as well as the Romanian Supreme Court constantly decided that the apparition of new circumstances, determined by the process of time, does not justify the modification by the courts of the contractual clauses agreed by the parties. 
 

Influenced by some regulations changing the German Civil Law, after 1920 a new apprehension occurred and gradually started to be outlined the idea of the admissibility of an interpretation meant to free the legal thinking of the principle of intangibility of the contract, took over from the roman law. 

 

This allowed the progressive construction of a system of reviewing the contractual clauses following the change of the circumstances considered at the time of the contract conclusion. 
 

This approach was even materialized in the German law of the modernization of the obligations law dated 26 November 2001. 

 

In the Italian law also a similar revolution took place, being admitted that the compulsory force of the contract may be put under discussion, in certain cases, determined by subsequent circumstances. 
Instead, Switzerland,  Belgium and France continue to remain faithful to the principle of pacta sunt servanda. 

 

In the actual Romanian legal system, accordingly to art. 969 of the Civil Code of French inspiration, which is still effective, “the conventions legally concluded have the power of a law between the contractual parties”, being susceptible of revocation only through mutual consent or by causes authorized by the law (2nd paragraph). 
 

Also, accordingly to art. 970 of the same code, “the conventions must be executed with good-faith” and “they are binding the parties not only to what it is expressly regulated in their content but also to everything that equity, custom or the law bind over the obligation, by its nature". 
 

It must be underlined that, in order to develop the principle established in art 969 of the actual Civil Code, accordingly to art 1066 of the same Code it was regulated the possibility of including a penal clause in the contract, as follows: “the penal clause is the one through which a person, in order to grant the fulfillment of an obligation, binds himself to deliver a good or an asset if he breaches his obligation".

To the actual regulations, which may involve only the rigid interpretation mentioned previously, correspond in the New Civil Code the provisions of art. 1271, as they were modified through the Law no. 71/2011.

 

Thus, these provisions contain the new conception, more flexible, meant to transform the contracts in legal instruments adapted to the requirements of the social economic life and evolution. 
 

We underline with this view the general provisions of art. 1271 of the New Civil Code, where, after the 1st paragraph (which states that “the parties are bind to fulfill their obligations, even though their execution became onerous, either due to escalation of the execution cost of his own obligation, either due to the depreciation of the value of the counter obligation”) it is stated that:

- 2nd paragraph: “however, of the execution of the contract became excessively onerous due to the exceptional changes of the circumstances which would make obviously unjust the binding of the debtor to execute his obligation, the court may decide:

 

Such a regulation, inspired, as shown before, from civil law provisions already existing in certain European legislations, is meant to make enforceable any contract concluded with respect to the law; the court of justice is the one which, accordingly to the new conception, must give life to these contracts if they would became impossible to enforce in time. 

 

We are sure that after 1st October 2011, when these new provisions will enter into force, limiting the application of the principle pacta sunt servanda, allowing to the court adapt the provisions of the contract or event to terminate it at a certain moment and under certain conditions, it will be necessary a more intense cooperation of businessmen and of the companies, in general, together of the Law Offices, by consulting them and ask their services anytime that obstacles for the continuation of the contracts occur.