Adhesion contracts

In another post, we mentioned this type of contract which is commonly used in today’s market filled with the hustle and bustle of the business world. Adhesion contracts are pre-printed contracts used by the majority of companies who market mass products or services.

The legal issue behind these “contracts” is the consent of one of the parties, which does not have the freedom to enter contracts/negotiate and, as such, the very “contractual” nature of this relationship has been questioned.

The essence of the contract requires that two parties enter into a relationship and negotiate the terms and conditions of such relationship reflected contractually. However, this does not occur in an adhesion contract which resembles nothing more than a simple administrative form.

Furthermore, in the majority of adhesion contracts, there are endless one-sided or abusive clauses, which in many cases would annul the validity of the contract if the users filed to annul such conditions in the judicial system. In other words, these contracts that are so popular and practical undermine basic contractual principals, which is why they are questioned by many.

In the field of legal translation, it is important that we pay special attention when translating these documents and carefully choose the appropriate legal terminology.