Credit Contract and Lending Contract in the Context of the New Czech Civil Code - Selected Issues

Credit contract and lending contract represent to two related contract types regulated by the 2012 Czech Civil Code. Nevertheless, the lending contract differs from the credit contract in several aspects. Whereas the subject-matter of the credit contract can be only provision of money, the subject-matter of the lending contract may include – beside lending of money – various other fungible goods. Credits are always interest-bearing, lending can be both interest-bearing or interest-free. The credit contract is a consensual contract which is formed already by its closing, whereas the lending contract is a real contract and is formed only by provision or delivery or of the goods pro-vided to the lender (debtor). The aim of the paper is to analyse selected issues from the existing legislation, espe-cially the position of the contracting parties within the contractual types given. In the framework of the examination, we provide a comparison of the conceptual features of these closely related contract types from the point of view of the grantor. Also exam-ined will be the space of contractual freedom provided by the legal rules and/or whether there are limits to this freedom, e.g. performance provided to consumers. Key role in the defined juxtaposition plays the circumstance that among the essen-tials of the credit contract (as opposed to the lending contract) plays the determination of the amount of the lending, both in quantity and currency. The amount to that the credit provider is obliged to grant funds may be agreed in the contract as a fixed amount or as a defined credit limit, credit framework etc. There is no principal difference between the specification of the credit as a credit limit or as a fixed amount – the beneficiary is in both cases entitled to decide on the amount to that the credit will be taken.