00:00Topic: Essential obligation plus limitation of liability clause.
00:03Done. Chronopost promises to deliver a document quickly. The document is delivered late.
00:08The customer is seeking compensation. However, the contract contains a clause limiting Chronopost's liability.
00:14Legal issue. Can a limitation of liability clause be invoked when it deprives the obligation of its substance?
00:20essential to the contract?
00:22Solution. The Court of Cassation rejects the restrictive clause.
00:25Chronopost's primary obligation was precisely fast delivery.
00:29A clause that would neutralize this obligation cannot normally produce its effect.
00:33This is a landmark decision in contract law.
00:36He contributed to building the case law relating to limitation of liability clauses.
00:41The 2016 reform then enshrined this logic in Article 1170,
00:45a clause which deprives the essential obligation of the debtor of its substance and is deemed unwritten.
00:50The Court of Cassation recalls today that the reform has notably codified the Chronopost case law.
