Commercial customs law - shokanshuuho

A commercial custom (actual commercial custom) that has reached legal certainty in the trading world and is recognized as having legal effect. Actual commercial custom is merely a de facto custom that serves as one of the factors for interpreting the expression of intent, and when there is a custom that differs from the optional provision, this custom only has binding effect if the parties to a legal act are recognized as having the intention to follow it (Civil Code, Article 92). In contrast, commercial custom law has the nature of law and is binding effect regardless of whether the parties to a legal act have the intention to follow it. Commercial law originally developed in the form of customary law and was codified, but as commercial phenomena become more complex and develop, it is no longer possible to deal with them with written law alone, and because written law lacks flexibility and is fixed, a gap is created between the law and actual economic activity, resulting in a defect that hinders the development of companies. In the sense of filling this gap, commercial custom law occupies an important position as a source of commercial law.

In principle, commercial customs law is allowed to apply when there is no provision in the Commercial Code or other commercial statutory laws, but it takes precedence over the Civil Code and other civil statutory laws (Commercial Code, Article 1, Paragraph 2), with the latter being considered an exception to the principle of statutory law priority (Civil Code, Article 2). However, there is a prevailing theory that recognizes the power of commercial customs law to amend or abolish commercial statutory laws, and allows the establishment of commercial customs law that contradicts the provisions of the Commercial Code, regardless of whether they are mandatory provisions or optional provisions. In fact, there are many precedents in which commercial customs law has been allowed to amend mandatory provisions of the Commercial Code.

[Toda Shuzo]

Kenichiro Osumi, Commercial Law Research, Vol. 1 (1992, Yuhikaku)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

商事に関する慣習（事実たる商慣習）がその取引界で法的確信に達し、法としての効力を認められたもの。事実たる商慣習は、意思表示の解釈につき一つの材料となる事実上の慣行にすぎず、任意規定と異なる慣習がある場合に、法律行為の当事者がこれによる意思を有するものと認められる場合に、この慣習が拘束力をもつにすぎない（民法92条）。これに対し、商慣習法は法としての性質を有し、法律行為の当事者がこれによる意思を有すると否とにかかわらず拘束力をもつ。商法はもともと慣習法の形で発達し、それが成文化されたものであるが、商事現象が複雑化し、進展するに伴って、成文法だけでは処理できなくなり、また、成文法は弾力性を欠き固定性を有するために、法と実際の経済活動との間に断層ができ、企業の発展を阻害するという欠陥を生ずる。これを埋める意味で、商慣習法が商法の法源として重要な地位を占める。

　商慣習法は、原則として商法典その他の商事制定法に規定がない場合に、その適用が認められるが、民法典その他の民事制定法には優先して適用され（商法1条2項）、後者については制定法優先主義（法例2条）の例外とされている。しかし、商事制定法に対する商慣習法の改廃力を認め、強行規定たると任意規定たるとにかかわりなく、商法の規定に反する商慣習法の成立を認める説が有力である。事実、判例で、商法の強行規定を変更した商慣習法を認めた例が多くみられる。

［戸田修三］

『大隅健一郎著『商事法研究　上』（1992・有斐閣）』

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