The integration of the contract by means of objective criteria: cases in which they are admitted and the scope of their function

Abstract

The integration of the contract is a category not well defined by the legal scholars or the case law. From a legal point of view, the integration referred to in article 1258 CC, systematically located in the general provisions of the contract, does not exhaust all the cases in which it is necessary to expand or modify what was agreed by the parties. It is also necessary give an answer to those questions that have not been foreseen or contemplated in an express way by those in the scope of the interpretation of the contract. The delimitation of these two categories (integration and interpretation) is not clearly established in Spanish law, as evidenced by the fact that the parties intend to apply the objective criteria contemplated in article 1258 CC (fundamentally good faith) when it is discussed on the interpretation of contracts.

The aim of this paper is to delimit these notions and to specify the interac- tion between them, in order to conclude that the use of this type of criteria is only possible to delimit the concrete scope that arise from the agreed regulation (integration in the strict sense) but not to interpret the will which has been that has been expressly or tacitly declared.