Comparative Study of Nullity, Corruption and Absence of the Contract in Imami Jurisprudence, Hanafi Jurisprudence and French Law

Of the various categories of contractual performance bonds, performance bonds related to the absence of one of the essential elements of the contract can be mentioned. Usually, in Iranian Law, only the nullity of the contract has been mentioned and it has been considered synonymous with corruption of the contract, but in the Hanafi Jurisprudence that has affected some legal systems like Afghanistan, for the lack of some essential elements, performance bond for nullity has been considered and for others, performance bond for corruption has been considered and corruption has been regarded something between nullity and validity. In French Law, aside from nullity, the absence of the contract is also discussed which is mainly related to the lack of consent, subject and the cause for obligation, and in other cases, principally the performance bond for nullity is used. These sanctions have common characteristics and they are hindering the effectiveness of a contract, but each of these entities in the legal system have particular origin, effects and provisions specific for them. It seems that what is called in France, the absence of contract, is similar to the concept of nullity in Hanafi Jurisprudence and what is considered as nullity in France, in Hanafi jurisprudence is similar to the corruption of contract in some aspects. However, in Iran, only the entity of nullity has been discussed and what is called corruption and the absence of the contract in other systems, is discussed as nullity in Iran and given the lack of practical effect, there is not any good reasons to separate them.