The question of the legal nature of a (specific) contractual relationship is not only a very popular topic for dissertations and postdoctoral theses, but also an omnipresent problem in contractual practice. Especially in legal practice, the question arises very often how a concrete contractual relationship is to be legally qualified, e.g. as a purchase agreement, rental agreement, loan agreement, etc.. This question has an impact, for example, if possible gaps in the contractual relationship in question are to be closed by applying statutory norms or if the content of the contract is to be measured against the statutory model of the relevant type of contract.

The particular problem in determining the legal nature of contractual relationships, however, is that there are basically no secure rules on how exactly a determination of the legal nature is to be carried out methodically. For this reason, Dr. Kemper has summarized in the present manuscript some general legal methodological principles for determining the legal nature of contractual relationships, which he developed in the context of his dissertation entitled “The Legal Nature of Private Credit and Surety Insurance Contracts”. This manuscript is aimed at all those interested in the law who, for example, are concerned with the question of the legal nature of (various) contractual relationships when preparing a dissertation or postdoctoral thesis; but also at all practitioners who, for example, are confronted with the question of the legal qualification of the respective contractual relationship when drafting the content of contracts and/or reviewing them from a legal point of view.

To download the manuscript, please click here.