계약법 용어의 정립을 위한 제언- 계약상 지위의 양도․이전에 사용된 용어를 중심으로 -

With the current revision of the Civil Code, it is necessary to seek a consistent definition of legal terms used in the assignment and transfer of contractual status (contract assignment, contract assumption, contract transfer). To this end, examining the grammatical characteristics of contract law can be helpful. Subjects in contract law provisions include contract parties, third parties, courts, narrators, legal provisions, and other expressions. Predicates in contract law provisions include expressions expressing ability, possibility, duty, phenomenon, prohibition, negation, double negation, presumption, and assertion. Some civil law provisions contain unnatural or grammatically incorrect expressions, which should be corrected through the opportunity of civil law revision. The civil law prioritizes the stable maintenance of contractual relationships and the enhancement of the parties' benefits over the termination and extinction of contracts. This can be inferred from the use of reserved expressions in predicates and sentences within civil law provisions. When distinguishing between the concepts of “statutory transfer” and “assignment by contract,” “transfer” is a more appropriate term for a comprehensive transfer of rights and status through legal provisions or administrative decisions, while “assignment” refers to a subjective and active transfer of status based on private autonomy. Furthermore, it is necessary to review and establish a clear definition of the terms “contractual assignment,” “contract assumption,” and “contract transfer,” which have been used interchangeably despite referring to the same substance—the transfer of contractual status. From the perspective of an active entity transferring contractual status, “contractual assignment” is appropriate, while from the perspective of succession, “contract assumption,” a term established in case law and practice, is more appropriate. Furthermore, limiting “contractual transfer” to cases where property and contractual relationships are comprehensively transferred by decisions of authorized agencies, such as those in the Act on Structural Improvement of the Financial Industry, will enhance the stability and consistency of the terminology.