Legal and Jurisprudential Basis of Early Performance of Contract, A Comparative Study under International Instruments

Even though the parties to a contract must perform their obligations in the specified time, but in some cases the obligor does not perform his/her obligation at the mentioned specified time. A clear instance of such case is a delayed performance, but in some circumstances, the obligor desires to do his/her duty before the defined time in the contract. On such occasions, legal state of performance should be considered from the legal and jurisprudential point of view and this question needs to be answered that whether or not the obligor has such authority? In Iranian positive law and legal literature, unlike the matter of delayed performance, the early performance has not been considered and there are no records to suggest otherwise, but in Islamic law (Shia and Sunni schools) the subject has been studied and different views have been expressed. Also in International instruments regarding contracts such as CISG, UPICC and PECL some rules related to the subject have been predicted; therefore the present comparative study can fill in the gaps and be a model law for future legislators.