Mechanism of judicial control of the contract terms fairness (article 428 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation)

Purpose: The freedom of contract cannot be absolute; it has defined limits according to the purposes of the weaker party defense from unfair contract conditions dictated to it. The fight against unfair contract conditions is executed by means of different legislative constructions, the central place among which belongs to the mechanism stipulated in the article 428 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. The author of the article sets an objective to compare the action of the said mechanism of control of the fairness contract conditions till the civil law reform and after the relevant modifications implementation to the law article in question. Methodology: General scientific methods such as the analysis, the synthesis, the comparison and legal methods of research were used. Results: On the basis of the analysis of civil law novels and common law materials the author concluded that the court can apply the consequences determined by the article 428 of the Civil Code of The Russian Federation to any contract conditions individually unagreed and dictated to the weaker party. Herewith it is not important whether the condition claimed is standard. The author attempted to analyse main problems arising in common law when applying the mechanism of control of the fairness contract conditions. On the ground of the research undertaken the author concluded that it is necessary to improve in future the provision of the article 428 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation for effective defense of weaker party of contractual legal relationship from unfair conditions dictated to it. Novelty/originality/value: The article has its particular scientific value and practical relevance as it presents one of the first attempt to analyze basic problems arising when applying the control mechanism of contract relations fairness.