Written Form of Contracts and Other Legal Transactions

U radu se analizira pojam pisanog oblika ugovora i drugih pravnih poslova. Ukratko je prikazan povijesni razvoj formalnih pravnih poslova te poredbenopravna dimenzija instituta forme ugovore i drugih pravnih poslova. Analizirane su mogućnosti priznavanja pravnih učinaka pisanog oblika elektroničkim izjavama volje. Poseban naglasak stavljen je na mogućnosti tumačenja odredaba ZOO-a o ispunjenju zahtjeva pisanog oblika u kontekstu sklapanja ugovora elektroničkim putem. Prikazane su i odredbe njemačkog BGB-a, koji je u nešto većoj mjeri prilagođen elektroničkom očitovanju volje (očitovanje volje u elektroničkom obliku te očitovanje volje u obliku teksta). Dio rada odnosi se na ugovaranje pisanog oblik ugovora i drugih pravnih poslova. Iako su pravila o obliku ugovora i drugih pravnih poslova prisilne naravi, jer uređuju pretpostavke njihove valjanosti, kada ugovorne strane odrede da je za valjanost njihova posla potrebno sklopiti posao u pisanom (ili bilo kojem drugom) obliku, tada je riječ o afirmaciji načela dispozitivnosti. O tome treba posebno voditi računa kada ugovorne strane odrede da ja za raskid njihova ugovora odnosno izmjene i dopune ugovora potreban poseban, najčešće pisani ugovor. Tada bi trebalo poštovati volju ugovornih strana, jer je to u skladu s načelom pacta sunt servanda, a ne postoje propisi koji bi zabranili ugovaranje takvih uglavaka. Naravno, valjanost takvih ugovornih odredaba može doći u pitanje jer se u konkretnom slučaju može utvrditi da su suprotne načelima obveznog prava – načelu savjesnosti i poštenja te načelu zabrane zlouporabe prava.The notion of the written form of contracts and other legal transactions is analyzed in this paper. Historical development of formal legal transactions as well as the comparative law dimension of the form of contracts and other legal transactions are briefly addressed. The possibilities to acknowledge the legal effects of the written form in the case of electronic declarations of will are also analyzed. A particular emphasis is placed on different possibilities to interpret the relevant provisions of the Civil Obligations Act regarding the fulfillment of requirements for the written form if a contract is concluded electronically. The provisions of the German BGB are also discussed because of the fact that German law is to a larger extent adapted to the electronic declaration of will (declaration of will in electronic form and declaration of will in text form). A part of the paper relates to situations in which the parties to a contract agree that they shall conduct their business exclusively in written form. Although the provisions on the written form are of a mandatory nature, considering that they regulate conditions for the validity of contract, when the parties to a contract agree that a certain contract must be in writing, they actually exploit the freedom of contract principle. This fact should be borne in mind when parties agree that any modifications to or rescission of a contract must be in writing. If this is the case, the will of the parties should be taken into the account, because it is in accordance with the pacta sunt servanda principle, and there are no mandatory provisions that would nullify such an agreement. Naturally, the validity of such agreements can be challenged if they are contrary to the good faith principle or the prohibition of the abuse of right principle