英文合同解讀技巧
篇一：英文合同解讀技巧
英文合同解讀技巧 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） 因這一切的事，我們立確實的約，寫在冊上。我們的首領，利未人，和祭司都簽了名。【尼西米】《聖經》新國際版
合同，古稱契約（港臺現仍多用此語），“契”者即證券，證明買賣、抵押、租賃等關係的文書，如契據、房契等。古代典籍中常見此語，《易繫辭》就有“後時聖人易之以書契。”“約”者即共同商定的事,共同議定要遵守的條文，如和約、條約等。《三國演義》中就有“昔高祖約法三章,黎民皆感其德。”
而西方在早在〈〈聖經〉〉中就有關於上帝在西乃山與以色列人立約的記載。挪亞方舟就是籍著上帝與挪亞的契約而建造的：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. （但我要與你立約，你以及你的兒子、妻子和兒媳，要與你一同進入方舟。）
第一節合同與協議(Contract and Agreement)
而在現代英語合同中，合同一般稱為Contract，協議一般稱為Agreement。那麼Contract和Agreement是一回事嗎？他們之間又有什麼關係呢？《中華人民共和國民法通則》第85條規定：“合同是當事人之間設立、變更、終止民事關係的協議”（A contract shall be an agreement whereby the parties establish, change or terminate their civil relationship）。《中華人民共和國合同法》第二條規定：“合同是平等主體的自然人、法人、其他組織之間設立、變更、終止民事權利義務關係的協議”（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）。
美國法律整編合同法第二次彙編定義合同為：“合同乃為一個允諾或一組允諾。違反此一允諾時，法律給予救濟；或其允諾之履行，法律在某些情況下視之為一項義務。”（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）這一定義在Steven H. Gifts 編著的Law Dictionary被完全引述. 但一般而言，Contract，乃兩個以上當事人間具有法律約束力之協議，或由一個以上當事人所為一組具有法律約束力之允諾。（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) 這一表述在L.B. Curzon編撰的Dictionary of Law中概括為“A legally binding agreement creating enforceable obligations.” Chris Turner在其編撰的Contract Law中定義的更為具體明瞭“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.”即合同就是對合同方具有法律上約束力，可由法院或其他同等管轄地強制執行的協議。
而在Black’s Law Dictionary（Eighth Edition）對contract 的定義多達8項：1. An agreement two or more parties creating obligations that are enforceable or otherwise recognzable at law 2.The writing that set forth such an agreement.3.引述美國法律整編合同法第二次彙編“contract”的定義.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 term.7.Loosely, 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.
至於agreement，L.B. Curzon的Dictionary of Law定義為：“Ａ consensus of minds, or evidence of such consensus, in spoken or written form, relating to anything done or to be done.”是對已做和待做的有關事宜以口頭或書面形式做出的相同意思表示或該意思表示的證據。而在Black’s Law Dictionary（Eighth Edition）給Agreement下了兩個定義：一個是“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. ”即雙方或多方就過去或將來的相關職責和義務的履行而達成相互的理解；雙方或多方相互達成一致的表現形式。另一個是“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.”即當事人透過語言或其他情形暗示而確立的實際約定，包括交易常例、貿易習慣以及履行慣例。
在ENGLISH-CHINISE BILINGUAL LAW DICTIONARY (2nd ed.)中對agreement作出瞭如下解釋：
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.協議，協定，合同（列出雙方當事人同意和約定條件的檔案）
Contract(合同)和Agreement(協議)到底能不能相互替換呢？讓我們來看看英文合同相關書籍和詞典的說法。Chris Turner在其Contract Law中是這樣闡述合同的成立：“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. 即合同成立的三個要件：協議（基於要約與承諾形成對條款的相互一致而存在）、約因（雙方付出的對價及對價存在的證據）和設立法律關係的意願。（合同具有法律上的執行力，不同於純粹的無償贈予的允諾）這裡也是用agreement來解釋contract的，認為contract（合同）是一種符合一定條件的agreement（協議）。
在英語法律用語中雖然多用“agreement”來解釋“contract”，其實也有偶用“contract”解釋“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例項，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), 還有更為明確的：Agreement. Synonym for Contract (Robert LeRoy& Kenneth A. Buths, Business Law and Taxes, “Glossary”, 1984)
而在Black’s Law Dictionary對agreement的註釋中也能看到“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).
綜上所述，我們不難看出，漢語的法律用語僅用協議來解釋合同，而英語的法律用語往往不很嚴格，多用Agreement解釋Contract, 但也有用Contract解釋Agreement的情形, 雖說大多情況Contract與Agreement有所區別，有時候兩者還可以作為同義詞互換使用。可以說contract都是協議，但協議不一定就是Contract。但就廣義的協議和合同來講，還是有區別的：
從成立的宗旨上看，協議十分寬泛不囿於為了當事人間形成法律或其他關係，即便是為影響當事人的義務也未必形成嚴格意義上的合同關係，如不動產轉讓或動產贈與。
從內容、條款上看，合同較為具體、詳盡，著眼於微觀，而協議則較為原則、粗疏，致力於宏觀。實踐中往往合作方就某一專案達成協議對有關原則問題作出約定，然後在此基礎上籤訂合同，再全面明確各項具體的細節。
從涉及範圍上看，合同的標的往往比較單一集中，也很明確；通常都是一事一議，就事論事，而協議的標的往往比較廣泛；一項大型專案的協議往往包括或分解成若干個具體的合同。
從書寫格式上看，合同已基本格式化了，大家可以看到許多的合同範本；而協議的格式相對靈活一些，沒有什麼固定的格式。
而狹義的協議和合同並無分別，只是用語上和習慣上的稱呼而已。
第二節合同的種類與名稱（Categories and Titles）
一份英文法律檔案, 到底是不是英文合同, 就要看它的內容是否符合合同的要求。一般而言合同不外乎包括人、事、時、地、物五大要素，也就是4W1H (Who, When, Where, What, How),如果你手上的`檔案內容包括了這五項要素而且簽署生效，該檔案就應該具有了合同的性質，而不論它是以何面目出現的。常見的英文合同名
稱可分為以下四大類：
一、合同、協議（Contract; Agreement）
檔名稱直接標明“Contract”或“Agreement”是最常見的英文合同。《中華人民共和國合同法》第九章到第二十三章就合同種類作了概括，它們分別是買賣合同；供用電、水、氣、熱力合同；贈與合同；借款合同；租賃合同；融資租賃合同；承攬合同；建設工程合同；運輸合同；技術合同；保管合同；倉儲合同；委託合同；行紀合同；居間合同等十五大類。（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） 而常見的協議有委託代理協議（Agency Agreement）、合夥協議( Partnership Agreement、股份轉讓協議(Shares Assignment Agreement)、保密協議(Confidentiality Agreement)、競業禁止協議(Non-compete Agreement)、聘用協議（Employment Agreement）等等。
二、意向書（Letter of Intent）
檔名稱如果標明“Letter of Intent”, “Memorandum of Understanding”(簡稱MOU, 通常翻譯為諒解備忘錄)，甚至只稱為“Memorandum”（簡稱Memo，通常稱之為備忘錄）。另外，也有標明“Minute of Talks”(即會談紀要)。
這些法律檔案往往是當事人雙方在商洽合作中形成的，可以稱之為準合同檔案，雖然，從名稱上看，它們似乎不是合同或者協議，但這些法律檔案，如果經當事人簽訂，即具有一定的法律約束力。甚至，由於沒有形成正式的合同或協議，而徑直依據這些檔案而進行實質的合作，使之具有合同或協議的性質。那就是說，合同的效力不能被其名稱所拘束，如果上述的法律檔案，其中完整明確地記載了交易的條款，當事人如果依據該條款內容履行，雙方也能達成交易目的。那麼這份法律檔案就應當視為雙方的合同或者協議。
三、契約（Covenant, Indenture, Deed, Compact，Protocol）
英文合同還有一些約定俗成的名稱。Covenant, 主要指不動產轉讓的合同或證明檔案，英文合同如果基於傳統英美法對價的存在，也會用到這個詞, 表示雙方達成的契約。如：In consideration of mutual premises and covenants herein contained, the parties hereto agree as follows: Indenture通常也是指不動產轉讓的契約檔案，Deed一般指地契、房契，Compact多用於國家間的協定、協議。
Protocol, 通常翻譯為草約或者議定書，往往也是雙方會談結果的文字依據。經雙方簽字後，即受其約束，對草約內容承擔法律責任，如果需要補充、修改、完善，雙方還會簽訂補充的協議。
四、其他書函（Letter; Waiver; Guaranty; Power of Attorney）
英文合同有時候非常簡短，形式上就像信函一樣，姑且稱之為書函類的英文合同，常常用"Letter"（函），"Waiver"（棄權書），"Guaranty"（保證書），"Power of Attorney"（委託書）等簡單明確的字眼作為合同的名稱。相對於"Agreement"或"Contract"類的合同，書函類的合同一般具有補充或附屬的性質，而且經常出現在
“Agreement”或“Contract”類合同的附件中。當然書函類的合同對雙方當事人也有完全的拘束力。
例如：甲公司向乙銀行貸款，由丙公司做擔保人，通常甲公司與乙銀行會簽署一份總協議（General Agreement），做為雙方往來的主要依據，再由丙公司簽署一份保證書（Guaranty）給乙銀行，而乙銀行每次撥款時，會發出一份授信書（Credit Letter或Facility Letter）給甲公司，授信書上會載明授信額度，作為甲公司申請撥款的依據。由本例中三份合同可以看出，General Agreement系授信的主要依據，甲公司和丙銀行間的權利義務關係主要由General Agreement來規範，而Guaranty及Credit Letter均為附屬在General Agreement架構下的小合同。丙公司因簽署了Guaranty，因此對乙銀行負有保證義務，乙銀行因為簽署了Credit Letter，因此對甲公司就發生了撥款的義務。
本書撰寫的方式，是針對名稱為"Agreement（狹義）"或"Contract"型別的合同檔案做閱讀方法的說明，其原因即在於此類檔案的合同結構複雜而內容完整，讀者若能掌握閱讀此類合同的要領，閱讀其它型別的英文合同時自然就“No Problem”沒問題了。
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