Article 172

What it means when you sign

This article gives a remedy for deception combined with unfairness. If one of the contracting parties deceives the other, and it is established that the contract was made with gross unfairness, the person who was deceived may ask for the contract to be annulled.

Two things must both be present: deception by the other party, and gross unfairness in the contract that resulted. The article says the deceived person may request annulment, which means the choice to seek it lies with that person. It does not say that deception alone, or unfairness alone, leads to annulment.

When you are about to sign, this article means a contract that was reached through a false picture of the facts, and that is badly one-sided as a result, can be challenged. A clause stating that the contract is final and cannot be challenged may not remove this option. It is worth checking whether the price or terms look reasonable against what was represented.