Cultural Conflicts in Contractual Relations : Towards a Culturally Sensitive Contract Law

Globalisation and the ensuing flows of immigration have led to a significant cultural diversification of Western societies, including Belgium. Since legal norms are, to a certain extent, based on the cultural standards of dominant societal groups, their sustainability in a multicultural society is being increasingly challenged. Contract law constitutes a particularly interesting legal challenge in multicultural societies. Although parties to a contract agree on certain core obligations, culturally divergent expectations regarding the content of the obligations or the appropriate way of performance or termination of the contract can lead to conflicts. There are currently no clear and encompassing solutions for such conflicts. This research investigates which legal mechanisms and techniques can be used to resolve such cultural conflicts in contractual relations. In our legal system two main avenues for dealing with these types of conflicts are available: (1) human rights related to culture that can be applied between contractual parties and (2) a culturally sensitive interpretation of open contract law norms. These mechanisms will be evaluated and best practices for resolving cultural conflicts in contractual relations in other legal systems will be tested for their compatibility with the Belgian (legal) context with a view to developing an integrated model to resolve cultural conflicts in contractual relations in the Belgian context.