Source: https://www.juridicainternational.eu/index.php?id=12722
Timestamp: 2019-04-19 12:55:14+00:00

Document:
The knowledge that there are pre-contractual duties that could lead to a liability if breached is new to Estonian lawyers. The relevant regulation was introduced with the new Law of Obligations Act *1 , which entered into force on 1 July 2002 and thoroughly altered the existing understanding and concepts of contract law, torts, and other obligations.
The existence of specific duties between the parties prior to conclusion of the contract was to some extent acknowledged also before the new LOA. Such specific pre-contractual duties were mainly recognised with respect to the disclosure requirements in the pre-contractual phase. However, such duties were largely accepted only where the negotiations had led to conclusion of a contract. In such cases, the duties were conceived not as pre-contractual but, rather, as duties arising under the contract. That the duties in question ought to have been performed prior to the conclusion of the contract was not considered to be important. As the liability for a possible breach of such duties was contractual by its nature, no specific discussion existed regarding the pre-contractual duties or liability. A good example is a case decided by the Civil Chamber of the Supreme Court in 2001. *4 A buyer of a house, which was still under construction at the time it was bought, claimed damages from the seller. The claim was mainly based on the fact that the constructive elements of floors and ceilings of the house were made of timber and not from concrete. The buyer claimed that prior to the conclusion of the contract the seller had shown her the project details and blueprints of the house, which provided for a concrete structure. The notarised sales agreement that the parties concluded later on made no reference to the blueprints or specific characteristics of the house, which was sold on an ‘as is’ basis. Nonetheless, the buyer based her claim on defective performance and argued that the house did not conform to the contract. The Supreme Court obviously did not accept this argument, as it concluded that the mere fact that that the floors were constructed from timber and not from concrete did not amount to a defect of the house, as the floors conformed to the applicable construction standards. The Court was obviously of the opinion that the provision of the project providing for concrete floors did not become a part of the sales contract as a contractual promise regarding the quality characteristics of the house. This did not lead to dismissal of the claim, though, as the Court accepted the seller’s liability on the basis of a different argument. The Supreme Court pointed out that, irrespective of whether there was an agreement on the nature of the floors, the seller, who had disclosed the blueprints, was under a duty to inform the buyer that the house was not constructed in accordance with these. The seller was hence found to be in breach of the contract. This conclusion seemed so evident that the court did not even bother to ponder on the existence of such disclosure requirements, nor did it reflect on their pre‑contractual nature.
When the new LOA entered into force and introduced a thorough regulation of the duties arising in the pre-contractual phase, the practice had only limited understanding of the purpose of the pre-contractual duties, the cases wherein the breach of such duties would be relevant, and the nature of the liability arising thereunder. *5 It took some time before the courts and practising lawyers discovered the concept and its practical applications. The constant stream of case law in the last few years has shown that the regulation has not remained a mere concept on paper. A number of decisions from the Supreme Court have developed the concept of pre‑contractual liability and amount to a growing legal certainty in the field.
The first issue the courts had to settle with respect to pre-contractual duties was the nature of the pre-contractual liability. Two principal concepts were discussed in the literature. The first of them saw the pre-contractual liability as part of tort law. *6 In accordance with this concept, the respective duties, listed in LOA § 14, were nothing more than a specific form of a general duty of care the breach of which leads to a liability under the general principles of tort law. A concurring concept entailed the opinion that the pre-contractual relationship and the specific duties arising under it between the negotiating parties leads to a specific legal relationship between the parties (an obligation, or võlasuhe in Estonian *7 ) the nature of witch lies between that of contract and tort. *8 This is, of course, a concept that is apparently similar to the German understanding of pre-contractual liability (culpa in contrahendo), which, as noted above, also served as a basis for the Estonian regulation.
It has to be admitted that, as far as the practical outcome is concerned, there is little difference in whether the breach of pre-contractual duties leads to the liability under a tort or to a quasi-contractual liability. The main difference between these two concepts in Estonian law is that the tort liability is a liability for negligence whereas the quasi‑contractual liability for the breach of an obligation is strict liability where any breach leads to a liability except where the breach was attributable to force majeure and hence excusable. However, there cannot be very many cases in practice where such a fine distinction is of importance. This is largely because most of the pre-contractual duties can be breached only out of negligence. With respect to such duties, the tort law concept would not lead to a less ‘strict’ liability than the concept of a quasi-contractual liability, which does not require negligence as a precondition for liability. Nonetheless, there are situations where the choice of concept is indeed relevant. The most important among such cases is the liability for incorrect information provided to the other party during the pre-contractual negotiations. Under a tort concept, the party who provided such information could be held liable only if he knew or ought to have known that the information provided to the other party was incorrect or if it could at least be proved that the information provided was negligently left uncontrolled by that party. In the quasi-contractual strict liability regime, the risk of liability for incorrect information lies entirely with the party who provided the information, who would be liable irrespective of whether said party knew or could have known of the incorrectness or whether the incorrect information was provided negligently.
The essence of the pre-contractual liability and the nature of the pre-contractual duties was first under scrutiny with regard to the duty to negotiate in good faith. The leading case for this practice is the decision of the Civil Chamber of the Supreme Court from 15 January 2007 (case No. 3-2-1-89-06). *11 The case had to do with the preliminary contract regarding the purchase of a plot of land. Under the contract, the seller agreed to sell a plot of land, which was to be created through division of a larger plot, to the purchaser for an agreed purchase price. Under Estonian law, such a contract would have required notarisation for validity, but the parties ignored this requirement knowingly (the seller was a real-estate developer and the purchaser was a lawyer). Later on, as the division of land was effected, the parties got into an argument regarding the conformity of the plot intended for the purchaser. The plot was smaller than what was agreed in the preliminary contract, and the purchaser wanted the price to be reduced accordingly. As a result, the seller refused to complete the sale and enter into a duly notarised agreement. The purchaser claimed for specific performance and alternatively for damages because of the non-performance. He calculated such damages on the basis of a difference between the agreed price and the market price for the plot.
A different issue is the question regarding the consequences of negotiations in bad faith. In considering this, the courts have concluded that, since an obligation to conclude a contract can be created only on the basis of a valid pre-contract, the pre-contractual duty to negotiate in good faith and the attendant prohibition from terminating negotiations in bad faith cannot lead to the compensation of the positive interest. A party who suffered damages because the other party started or terminated negotiations in bad faith cannot therefore file a claim with the goal of being placed in the situation that would have existed if the parties had concluded a contract. In the decision discussed above, the Supreme Court stressed that, although the purchaser could rely on the conclusion of the contract on the basis of the state of the negotiations and agreements evidenced in the invalid pre-contract and the termination of negotiations by the seller was hence performed in bad faith, the purchaser could not claim damages on the basis of the profits lost because of the non‑conclusion of the intended contract. The pre-contractual duty to negotiate in good faith merely protects the reliance interest of the parties. Consequently, in the case of a breach, the aggrieved party is to be put in a situation as would have existed if that party had not relied on the negotiations being held in good faith. *17 This would mainly lead to the compensation of expenses that the party incurred during the negotiations, such as cost of time, travel costs, or costs related to the drafting of the contract. *18 In addition to this, the courts have recognised that in certain cases the protection of reliance interest can lead to compensation of expenses that the aggrieved party has made in reasonable reliance on the conclusion of the contract, such as costs, break fees, or similar expenses under the agreements that the party has entered in reliance on the conclusion. *19 It is clear that, prior to the contract’s conclusion, such reliance can exist only under special circumstances, mainly where the other party has acknowledged that agreement has been reached in all essential respects, such that the conclusion of the contract is a mere formality. Even in such cases, only reasonable expenses incurred in reliance on such acknowledgement can be recovered as damages.
The pre-contractual duties of the parties can involve an obligation to ensure that the contract concluded as a result of such negotiations is valid. Such duty is seldom explicitly stipulated in law. There is also no specific regulation to this effect in Estonian law. The fact that there must be pre-contractual duties regarding the guarantee of validity can be deduced from the various provisions that entitle a party to damages if a contract concluded with the other party is void or becomes invalid (such as through a successful avoidance) for reasons attributable to the other party.
With respect to the liability arising due to the breach of duties regarding ensuring of the validity of a contract, the law again protects merely the reliance interest and not the positive interest of the parties; this is generally the case where pre-contractual duties are concerned. In particular, the liability under an invalid contract does not protect the interest toward fulfilment of the contract and cannot lead to a situation where the party entitled to damages because of the invalidity is put in a situation that would have existed if the contract had been valid. *26 The law protects reliance on the validity of a concluded contract. If such reliance is not realised, on account of breach of the above-mentioned pre-contractual duties by the other party, the latter is responsible for damages. Such damages again involve the expenses related to negotiations. *27 As was discussed above, the damages can also be calculated on the basis of expenses incurred in reliance on the contract. Such expenses become damages if and insofar as they lose their purpose because of the invalidity of the contract. The courts have pointed out that in the case of a contract that has already been concluded (even though it is invalid) the reliance of a party on the validity of the contract is, as a rule, stronger than in the case where negotiations have not yet amounted to conclusion of the contract. *28 This means that, in general, any dispositions made by a party to an invalid contract can be deemed to have been performed in reasonable reliance on a contract such that the related expenses are collectable as damages, provided that the party who incurred such expenses did not know of the invalidity. *29 As an example, it has been found reasonable that a purchaser of a plot of land who does not know that the pre-contract concluded with the seller is invalid incurs expenses in the amount of approximately €4000 for the planning and design work related to the plot *30 whereas the same expenses can seldom be incurred in reasonable reliance on a contract prior to its conclusion irrespective of the state of negotiations.
The most important group of pre-contractual duties relates to pre-contractual disclosure requirements and to liability for incorrect information provided to a party during the pre-contractual negotiations.
The question of whether there the parties to a contract should in any way be under an obligation to disclose certain information to the other party in a pre-contractual phase is a matter of great debate among proponents of the various legal systems in Europe. The spectrum of possible solutions starts with the relatively wide disclosure requirements under the German law (disclosure of all material information that the other party can await in good faith) to the approach of England and Wales, with almost no disclosure at all required. This diversity is also reflected in the fragmented regulation of pre‑contractual disclosure requirements in articles 3:101–3:106 of Book II of the DCFR, which avoids any references to general disclosure requirements and limits itself to a catalogue of duties to disclose certain specific information, mainly in B-to-C relations.
With regard to pre-contractual information duties, the Estonian law has chosen the German approach, with an explicit regulation of such pre-contractual duties by recognising a general information duty with wide disclosure requirements based on the principle of good faith and fair dealings. As a general rule, LOA § 15 (2), first sentence, provides that each of the negotiating parties is bound to disclose to the other party any information the knowledge of which is apparently material to that other party. This duty is, however, not unlimited. In accordance with LOA § 15 (2), second sentence, the disclosure is required only if and insofar as the other party could have reasonably expected the disclosure in accordance with the principles of good faith and fair dealings. The question of when disclosure of particular circumstances can be expected in accordance with the principles of good faith can be determined in accordance with the principles set out in GPCCA § 95. This provides that, in determining whether disclosure is required, account has to be taken of whether the interest of the other party in the particular information was apparent to the party from whom disclosure is expected, whether the parties have special expertise and knowledge, the costs of obtaining the information, and whether the other party could have obtained the information from another source.
In addition to disclosure in accordance with LOA § 15 (2), the law requires that any information, related to the contract, that is provided to the other party prior to conclusion of the contract is to be true and correct (LOA § 15 (1), second sentence).
Liability for breach of pre-contractual disclosure requirements is somewhat different from liability for breach of other pre-contractual duties, most notably of the duty to negotiate in good faith or of the duty to ensure the validity of the contract. This is mainly due to the fact that, although there can be situations wherein a breach of disclosure requirements or provision of incorrect information by the other party is discovered prior to the conclusion of the contract and leads to the termination of the negotiations *31 , the insufficient disclosure or provision of incorrect information would, as a rule, become relevant only if such circumstances are discovered after the parties have concluded a valid contract.
First and foremost, this leads to the question of whether there is room and need at all for the pre-contractual liability in situations where the negotiations have been successful and have ended with the conclusion of a valid contract. If the pre-contractual liability would still be of relevance in such circumstances, its relationship and possible concurrence with the contractual remedies would have to be cleared.
For a number of cases it can indeed be concluded that the breach of pre-contractual duties would lose its relevance if a valid contract is concluded. This is most evident if the breach relates to the disclosure of incorrect information related to the object of the contract. As a general rule, such information would form a part of the parties’ agreement as a contractual promise. Any incorrectness of such information would then amount to a breach of a contract and entitle the recipient party to contractual remedies for non-performance. As an example, if a seller of a used car has declared to the potential purchaser, prior to conclusion of a sales agreement, that the car has no accident record, this statement becomes part of the agreement even if this statement is not made in the agreement documented upon conclusion. If the purchaser discovers after conclusion of the agreement that the statement was incorrect, he is entitled to contractual remedies for non-performance. *32 In this case, the pre-contractual liability for provision of incorrect information is irrelevant, as the purchaser has sufficient remedies for non-performance of the contractual promise. On the other hand, a contract could contain a merger clause that would, in most cases *33 , prevent the parties from making recourse to measures for breach of pre-contractual disclosure requirements. In such a case, there is also no recourse to pre-contractual liability, as this is excluded by the contract itself.
There are cases, however, wherein the contractual remedies for non-performance do not provide adequate protection in the event of a breach of pre-contractual obligations. In general terms, this applies in situations wherein the contractual expectations of a party that are partly based on promises given or information provided by the other party in the pre-contractual phase are not fulfilled but the traditional contractual remedies for non‑performance fall short because the information or promises have not amounted to a contractual promise. In the Estonian practice, such cases have arisen mainly in connection with sales agreements.
The first of these notable cases was referred to at the beginning of this article and involved a purchase of a house by a seller who was, on the basis of drawings of the house presented to her, convinced that the house had concrete floors. *34 As a valid sales agreement existed between the parties, the courts were first bound to examine whether the purchaser was entitled to contractual remedies due to the non-conformity of the purchased house with the agreement. The courts were not convinced that this was the case, as the house was not unfit for the purposes for which a house would usually be used, nor was it of a lower quality than similar, comparable houses. The courts were also of the opinion that the mere fact that the purchaser was able to look at the drawings of the house did not necessarily lead to the conclusion that all information and technical data contained in such drawings amounted to a contractual promise such that any discrepancy from the drawings presented would have amounted to non-conformity of the house with the sales agreement. These arguments make sense in a situation in which the agreement itself contained no references to the drawings. However, as we saw, this did not mean that the purchaser was left entirely without protection. In this particular case, the Supreme Court concluded that, although the house sold by the seller might have conformed to the agreement, the seller had breached a duty to inform the purchaser about the material changes undertaken in the course of construction, compared to the drawings that were introduced to the purchaser.
The concurrence of the pre-contractual liability for undue disclosure or provision of incorrect information and contractual liability for non-conformity with a contract is most clearly evidenced in the latest case concerning pre-contractual liability, decided on by the Supreme Court. *38 In this case, the purchaser acquired a plot of land for the purposes of constructing a family home. The plot was fairly small and had a size of only 907 m2. This was correctly reflected in the sales agreement and corresponded to the information contained in the Land Register. The purchaser had inspected the plot with the seller prior to conclusion of the contract. The plot was partly surrounded by a fence. The purchaser rightfully claimed that it had assumed that the fence marked the border of the plot, which therefore in the inspection did not appear to be so small at all. It was only after the conclusion of the contract that the purchaser discovered that to a large extent the fence was located on neighbouring plots that belonged to the seller. In fact, the area of the land bordered by the fence was 1162 m2 — that is, 22% larger than the 907 m2 plot that was the object of the sale. Consequently, the purchaser claimed for reduction of the purchase price. The claim was based on the alleged non-conformity of the plot with the agreement. This was rightfully denied by the courts, as it would have precluded the object of the sales agreement being a plot with an area of 1162 m2. *39 Quite clearly, this was not the case. The non-performance by the purchaser was again based on non-fulfilment of the contractual disclosure requirements, as the principle of good faith would have required the seller to disclose to the purchaser that, contrary to the obvious appearance, the fence was not constructed on the border.
These examples show that in specific cases the pre-contractual liability can indeed supplement the liability for the breach of contractual liabilities. If the contract has been validly concluded, the breach of pre-contractual duties becomes relevant where the contractual expectations of a party are based on the breach of pre-contractual disclosure requirements or incorrect information provided to that party prior to conclusion of the contract. The pre-contractual duties are important where the non-disclosure of specific circumstances or promises or expectations resulting from incorrect information provided to the purchaser do not become part of the agreement. In such cases, the party who relied on the information should be entitled to concurrent remedies irrespective of whether the duties with respect of which the breach occurred are contractual on pre‑contractual in nature.
The exact nature of the remedies that are available to a party to a valid contract in the event of breach of the pre-contractual obligations related to disclosure or provision of correct information is not self-evident. Indeed, there are a number of concurring remedies available.
First one has to bear in mind that the breach of pre-contractual disclosure requirements or provision of incorrect information would normally amount to a fundamental mistake or fraud, which would enable the affected party to avoid the contract. Under Estonian law, the concept of a legally relevant mistake (which can lead to avoidance of the contract) is closely related to the breach of pre-contractual disclosure requirements. The law enables avoidance of a contract that was entered into under a fundamental mistake, if the mistake was caused by or known to the other party or in cases of a shared mistake (GPCCA § 92 (3)). A mistake deemed to be caused by the other party is defined as a mistake that was caused by (incorrect) information given by the other party or through non-disclosure of information, provided that the other party would have been required to disclose such information in accordance with the principle of good faith (GPCCA § 92 (3) 1)). A mistake ‘known to the other party’ entitles the party given the mistaken understanding to avoid the contract if the other party knew or ought to have known the mistake but contrary to the principle of good faith did not disclose said mistake (GPCCA § 92 (3) 2). It is evident that in both of these cases the other party who causes a mistake through misrepresentation or knows of the mistake but leaves it undisclosed simultaneously breaches its pre-contractual obligations under LOA § 14 (1) and (2). The same is true in the case of fraud — i.e., in cases where the above misrepresentations are fraudulent in nature (GPCCA § 94). On the other hand, breach of pre-contractual duties regarding the disclosure and provision of correct information always seems to entitle the affected party to avoid the contract if the mistake caused through misrepresentations by the other party was fundamental or amounted to a fraud. As a result, the first remedy for a party affected by the breach of pre-contractual duties regarding the disclosure or provision of correct information is the avoidance of the contract. If the contract is avoided, the avoiding party is also entitled to damages in accordance with GPCCA § 101. Typically in cases of breach of pre-contractual duties, such damages are only awarded for the purposes of putting the avoiding party into the position it would have had if it had not entered into the contract (GPCCA § 101 (1)). Therefore, only the negative interest or reliance on the validity of the contract is protected and the costs of negotiating and entering into contract or dispositions made in reliance on the contract are recoverable.
In Estonian law, the primary remedy for breach of pre-contractual duties is the claim for damages. *41 The nature of such a claim and the damages to which the other party is entitled in the event of breach of the pre-contractual duties was discussed above with respect to cases where the breach led to termination of negotiations or invalidity of a concluded contract. However, it remains to be shown that the interests protected by the pre-contractual duties and the respective damages can be different if the parties reach agreement and a contract is validly concluded despite the pre-contractual breach. This is already evident from the general purpose for which the damages are rewarded — to help the aggrieved person into a position that would have existed but for the breach that led to the liability for damages. In cases where the conclusion of a contract was influenced by a breach of the pre-contractual disclosure requirements but the contract is valid, the compensation of damages resulting from such breach can lead to two, fundamentally different situations, depending on the circumstances of the case.
The party who entered into the contract under the influence of a misrepresentation by the other party could claim that he would not have entered into the contract if the other party had disclosed correct information or had not omitted to disclose certain circumstances. This could be a valid claim in the above-mentioned case where the seller omitted to disclose to the purchaser that the fence that was thought to mark the border was indeed located on the neighbouring plot. Here the pre-contractual duties seem to protect the negative interest and the compensation of damages would require the party influenced by the misrepresentation to be placed in a situation as would have existed if said party had not concluded the contract. An apparent concurrence of remedies occurs here between the claim for damages and avoidance of the contract, based on the mistake or fraud. *42 In order to avoid contradictions, it may be advisable not to grant damages that would lead to restitution and de facto termination of the contract where the contract in question cannot be avoided because of the mistake or fraud under the relevant provisions.
In practice, this has led to the question of whether it is at all appropriate to speak of a pre-contractual liability when the breach of pre-contractual duties is discovered after the conclusion of the contract and does not lead to its invalidity. In legal theory it has been suggested that under such circumstances the pre-contractual duties are to be treated as duties under the contract such that their breach would lead to non-performance of the contract and to the contractual liability and remedies. *44 This idea has now been picked up by the Supreme Court, which has ruled that if the breach of pre-contractual obligations is discovered after the conclusion of a valid contract the relationship between the parties is to be viewed as a uniform contractual relationship the contents of which are, in addition to the obligations arising from the contract itself also the obligations that existed between the parties prior to conclusion of the contract. *45 For the above examples this would mean that, in addition to an obligation to ensure that the object of sale conforms with the agreement, the seller would be under the contractual obligation to assure that any information provided by it with respect to the object of the sale prior to conclusion of the contract is correct and no material information has been left undisclosed to the purchaser in a manner counter to good faith.
The idea of treating pre-contractual obligations as obligations arising under the contract is mainly aimed at helping the affected party to satisfaction with, in addition to the claim for damages, contractual remedies such as reduction of purchase price or termination of the contract in cases of material breach. As such remedies are only available under the contract and as a result of non-performance of contractual obligations, they could not be used in cases of a breach of a mere pre-contractual obligation. *46 As the above cases show, there is indeed need for such specific remedies as one would otherwise need to adapt the claim for damages to achieve the same results as price reduction or even termination. Even more important is the need to ensure that the solution of the case is not dependent on whether a particular non-performance qualifies as pre-contractual or contractual breach. For contractual breach there is often specific regulation in place that limits or adapts the remedies or the liability regime under a particular contract. It would be advisable often to apply this specific regulation also in the case of pre-contractual liability. This is mainly due to the fact that on many occasions the two categories of contractual and pre-contractual liability are almost impossible to distinguish. One should consider only the question of whether the incorrect information provided in the pre-contractual phase has amounted to a contractual promise or not.
The Estonian practice shows that there are a number of cases at the borderline between contractual and pre-contractual liability. Such cases should not be decided on the basis of whether a pre-contractual misrepresentation has amounted to a contractual promise and to corresponding non-performance of the contract, as this is indeed often difficult to prove. The practice also shows that the provisions related to non-performance of contracts often need assistance from the realm of pre-contractual liability, mainly in cases where the conclusion of the contract has been influenced by pre-contractual misrepresentations. It seems that a more general and less specific scheme of regulation of pre-contractual duties, such as the one adopted in Estonia, is able to offer more flexible solutions for these cases than does regulation that is limited to a catalogue of very specific pre-contractual information duties, such as in Chapter 3 of Book II of the DCFR.
* 1 Võlaõigusseadus. – RT I 2001, 81, 487; 2007, 56, 375 (in Estonian). Available in English at http://www.just.ee/23295 (30.06.2008).
* 2 P. Varul et al. Võlaõigusseadus. Kommenteeritud väljaanne I. (Law of Obligations Act I. Commented edition). Tallinn: Juura 2006, commentary 2 to § 14, p. 58 (in Estonian).
* 3 Ibid., commentary 2 to § 14, p. 58.
* 4 CCSCd 30.112007, 3-2-1-131-05. – RT III 2005, 43, 425 (in Estonian).
* 5 A notable exception was an introductory article by I. Kull. Sissejuhatus probleemi: lepingueelne vastutus (culpa in contrahendo) (Introduction into a Problem: Pre-contractual Liability (culpa in contrahendo)). – Juridica 1994, pp. 214–215 (in Estonian).
* 6 J. Lahe. Lepingueelsete kohustuste ning eellepingu rikkumisest tulenev tsiviilõiguslik vastutus (Civil Liability arising from the Breach of Pre-contractual Obligations and Pre-contracts). – Juridica 2004/10, pp. 681–687 (in Estonian).
* 7 The Estonian institute of an obligation (võlasuhe) is very similar to the German Schuldverhältnis.
* 8 I. Kull, M. Käerdi, V. Kõve. Võlaõigus I. Üldosa (Law of Obligations I. General Part). Tallinn: Juura 2004, p. 80 (in Estonian).
* 9 In the sense of III.–1:101 DCFR.
* 10 P. Varul et al. (Note 2), commentary 4.6 to § 14, p. 62.
* 11 RT III 2007, 3, 23 (in Estonian).
* 12 Ibid., Sec. 15.
* 14 P. Varul et al. (Note 2), commentary 4.4 to § 14, p. 61.
* 15 CCSCd 3-2-1-89-06 (Note 11), Sec. 16.
* 16 Ibid., Sec. 15.
* 17 Ibid., Sec. 16.
* 19 Ibid.: financing costs or interest payments under financing arrangements entered into in reliance of the conclusion of the contract, costs of valuation of the object of the contract for financing purposes, etc.
* 20 Tsiviilseadustiku üldosa seadus. – RT I 2002, 35, 216; 2007, 24, 128 (in Estonian). Available in English at http://www.just.ee/23295 (30.06.2008).
* 21 P. Varul et al. (Note 2), commentary 4.1 to § 15, p. 66.
* 22 From the practice of the Supreme Court: the CCSCd 19.06.2007, 3-2-1-70-07 (RT III 2007, 26, 220; in Estonian)), Sec. 12–13 and CCSCd 3-2-1-89-06 (Note 11), Sec. 14.
* 23 CCSCd 3-2-1-89-06 (Note 11), Sec. 16.
* 24 In the case underlying the CCSCd 3-2-1-89-06, the positive knowledge of invalidity was established in case of a purchaser who was a professional lawyer.
* 25 CCSCd 3-2-1-70-07 (Note 22), Sec. 12.
* 26 CCSCd 3-2-1-89-06 (Note 11), Sec. 16.
* 27 Loss of time, travel expenses, expenses for the legal aid, etc., see CCSCd 3-2-1-89-06 (Note 11), Sec. 16.
* 30 S. CCSCd 3-2-1-70-07 (Note 22), Sec. 12.
* 31 S. CCSCd 3-2-1-89-06 (Note 11), Sec. 15.
* 32 Example from P. Varul et al. (Note 2), commentary 3.3.1 to § 217, p. 42.
* 33 There can be exceptions where the adherence to the merger clause would be contrary to good faith, for example if the seller knowingly provided incorrect information to the purchaser and included a merger clause to the contract in order to avoid liability, in such case the seller could be prevented from relying on the merger clause, see P. Varul et al. (Note 2), commentary 3.3.1 to § 217, p. 42.
* 34 CCSCd 3-2-1-89-06 (Note 11).
* 35 CCSCd 19.11.2007, 3-2-1-111-07. – RT III 2007, 41, 324 (in Estonian).
* 36 Ibid., Sec. 13.
* 37 Ibid., Sec 14. In the end the purchaser was not successful with its claims, however this was mainly due to the insufficient evidence brought by the purchaser to support its claims.
* 38 CCSCd 12.12.2007, 3-2-1-113-07. – RT III 2007, 46, 373 (in Estonian).
* 39 Ibid., Sec. 10.
* 40 In the DCFR this is simply procured by enabling the mistaken party (or the party affected by the fraud) to claim damages irrespective of the avoidance of the contract (see DCFR II.–7:304).
* 41 P. Varul et al. (Note 2), commentary 4.6.1 to § 14, p. 62.
* 42 Ibid., commentary 4.7.3 to § 14, p. 64.
* 43 CCSCd 3-2-1-113-07 (Note 38), Sec. 12.
* 44 I. Kull, M. Käerdi, V. Kõve (Note 8), p. 81.
* 45 CCSCd 3-2-1-111-07 (Note 35), Sec. 14.
* 46 P. Varul et al. (Note 2), commentary 4.6.1 to § 14, p. 62.

References: § 14
 § 15
 § 15
 § 95
 § 15
 § 15
 § 92
 § 92
 § 92
 § 14
 § 94
 § 101
 § 101
 § 14
 § 14
 V. 
 § 14
 § 14
 § 15
 § 217
 § 217
 § 14
 § 14
 V. 
 § 14