Reducibility of the penal clause

The purpose of the penalty clause shall consist in carrying out a pre-assessment of the damage caused to the creditor as a result of the non-performance of the contractual obligation. As it is the result of the parties’ agreement, in principle, an interference of the court of law is not possible as regards the amount of the damages assessed according to this penalty clause. By way of exception, the court may reduce the amount of the damages if the assumptions provided for by law are met: the partial performance of the contractual obligation and the excessiveness of penalties. This study aims at examining those two legislative assumptions in which the intervention of the court of law is possible in relation to the reduction of the amount of penalties.