Nuostolių atlyginimas sutartiniuose santykiuose

As every breach of a contract not only conditions destabilization of business relations, but also causes a social conflict, and an aggrieved party must be compensated for damage incurred in connection with non-performance or defective performance of obligations under the contract. A breach of a private interest as a result of non-performance or defective performance of a contract gives grounds for contractual civil liability to arise. As the compensatory function is the main function of civil liability, only proper implementation of it can guarantee protection of the breached interests of the parties and restore the stability of business relations. Thus, in order to restore the balance of legal relations, it is necessary to have a good knowledge of the legal regulation of damages in contractual relations. This research work gives a comprehensive analysis of legal regulation of damages in contractual relations in the Republic of Lithuania, as well as peculiarities and problems of regulation of this institution. Contractual liability is researched as one of the forms of civil liability, different from tortious liability; it is also discussed which of these two forms of civil liability should be applied in different stages of pre-contractual relations. The essence of damages as one of the forms of contractual liability is disclosed by studying the types of damage that are compensated for in case of breach of a contract, differences between damages and penalties, conditions for recovery of damages, as well as functions, the main principles of damages and relationship with other remedies. The paper also analyses the procedures and methods for assessment of damages, distinguishes separate types of damages according to a possibility of precise assessment, and separately discusses the regulation of interest. Since contract law is quite a young institution in the Republic of Lithuania, some issues of legal regulation of damages in contractual relations and their application in practice are problematic. Though there are certain major directions in court practice as regards interpretation of damages in contractual relations; however, taking into consideration international legal acts, the legislation of the Republic of Lithuania still contains disputable and amendable provisions such as compensation for non-pecuniary damage, the doctrine of prediction of damages, etc. – which are typical of all new legal institutes that are still under formation.