Liabiliti Prakontrak: Pendekatan Undang-undang Kontrak Jerman Sebagai Rujukan (Pre-Contractual Liability: German Contract Law Approach as Reference)

Abstract

Pre-contractual liabilities will arise if a party breaches his duties during negotiation. Yet, such liabilities are unenforceable under Malaysian contract law due to non-existence of a contract as a cause of action. Moreover, common law and equitable principles are also incapable of providing an effective solution to this issue. Hence, this study has analysed the approach undertaken by the German contract law as a source of reference in finding a solution to the issue. This is due to the fact that the German contracts law is more progressive and had earlier experience in the development of pre-contract liabilities. To achieve this objective, this doctrinal research applied content analysis method and data was collected by using library research technique. Besides, a critical analysis approach was used to search for any positive aspects from the German contracts law which could be adopted in reforming the current contract law. This study found that the German’ court has applied a doctrine known as culpa in contrahendo as a mechanism in solving pre-contractual dispute. This doctrine had been codified into the German Civil Code (Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch ‘BGB’) and is widely adopted by other civil law countries. Finally, this study proposes a reform to the Contracts Act 1950 to enable the doctrine be recognised in Malaysia. The findings of this study will enrich knowledge, fill the research gap in relation to pre-contractual liability in Malaysia, and further contribute to the corpus of knowledge in the society.

Abstrak

Liabiliti prakontrak timbul apabila salah satu pihak melanggar kewajipan semasa rundingan. Namun undang-undang kontrak Malaysia tidak mengandungi kewajipan prakontrak dan kegagalan memuktamadkan kontrak tambahan menyukarkan lagi keadaan. Pemakaian prinsip common law dan ekuiti bagi mengisi lakuna dalam perundangan turut gagal memberikan penyelesaian yang efektif terhadap isu ini. Sehubungan itu, dalam mencari jawapan kepada permasalahan ini, kajian ini menganalisis pendekatan undang-undang kontrak Jerman sebagai rujukan. Hal ini disebabkan, undang-undang kontrak Jerman lebih terkehadapan dan mempunyai pengalaman lebih awal dalam perkembangan liabiliti prakontrak. Bagi memenuhi objektif tersebut, kajian berbentuk doktrinal ini mengguna pakai metode analisis kandungan dengan pengumpulan data melalui teknik kajian kepustakaan. Selain itu, kajian ini menggunakan pendekatan analisis kritis bagi mencari aspek positif daripada undang-undang kontrak Jerman yang boleh dijadikan sebagai rujukan penambahbaikan undang-undang kontrak sedia ada. Kajian ini mendapati mahkamah di Jerman menggunakan doktrin culpa in contrahendo sebagai mekanisme penyelesaian pertikaian prakontrak. Doktrin tersebut telah dikodifikasikan ke dalam Kod Sivil Jerman (Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch ‘BGB’) dan pemakaiannya telah meluas di negara-negara yang mengamalkan perundangan sivil. Kajian ini pada akhirnya mencadangkan pindaan kepada Akta Kontrak 1950 bagi membolehkan doktrin culpa in contrahendo diterima dalam undang-undang kontrak Malaysia. Hasil kajian ini membantu mengembangkan pengetahuan dan mengisi jurang penyelidikan berkaitan liabiliti prakontrak di Malaysia dan seterusnya menyumbang kepada kekayaan korpus ilmu pengetahuan dalam masyarakat.

Kata kunci: Culpa in contrahendo; liabiliti prakontrak; Akta Kontrak 1950; kontrak; rundingan