Règles juridiques supplétives / impératives (distinction)

Summary

The video distinguishes mandatory rules from default (supplementary) rules.

Mandatory rules

Mandatory rules apply to everyone within their scope and cannot be set aside by contract. They are associated with public policy.

Article 6 of the French Civil Code provides that private agreements cannot override laws concerning public policy and morality.

The video gives the employment-law requirement that a dismissal must have a real and serious cause as an example. The subtitles appear to contain an error: they say the employer and employee can exclude this rule, which conflicts with the explanation that it is mandatory. The intended meaning is presumably that they cannot exclude it by contract.

Default rules

Default rules apply when the parties have not made a different arrangement. The parties may displace them by agreement.

For example, absent an applicable agreement or sectoral collective agreement, a fixed-term contract may be renewed no more than twice. As presented in the video, this is a default rule, so an agreement can provide for more renewals.

Practical distinction

Ask whether the parties are allowed to agree on a different arrangement. If they are not, the rule is mandatory; if they may replace it, it is a default rule.

Speakers and sources

• Narrator/presenter: Aide aux TD, explaining the legal concepts.
• Music: Brief background music at the end.