英文合同除了会介绍合同双方的信息（包括名称、法定代表人、地址、公司形式等）外，还会介绍合同订立的目的。本期我们就来具体了解一下合同组成中的前言部分。
前言（Preamble）一般由“Parties”及“Recitals”两部分组成。
“Parties”为必备条款，在很多时候称为“commencement”即合同的开场白，主要介绍合同各方的名称或姓名、注册地及地址、邮编及在合同中的简称。
例如：
This contract, made and entered into in (place of signature) the (this/on)____thday of (month) , (year), by and between (name of one party), a corporation duly organized and existing under the law of (name of country) with its domicile at (address) (hereafter referred to as party A), and (name of the other party), a company incorporated and existing under the laws of (name of country) with its domicile at (address) (hereafter referred to as party B).
本合同于——年——月——日在（签约地点）由按（国家名称）法律组建成立的，营业地点在（公司地址）的——公司（以下称作甲方）和按（国家名称）法律注册成立的、营业地点在（公司地址）的——公司（以下称作乙方）共同签订。
合同开场白部分较为固定且简单，下文重点介绍前言中的“叙述性条款”（Recital）。
Recitals in contracts. Most contracts contain, underneath the title and parties’ block but before the body text of the agreement, a group of paragraphs known also as the 'recitals’ or 'whereas’ clauses.
合同中的叙述性条款: 大多数合同会在标题和当事人栏之下，但在协议正文之前，包含一组段落，其也称为“叙述性”或“鉴于”条款。
Types of recital clauses. The recitals give background information about the parties, about the context of the agreement and an introduction to the agreement itself. There are several kinds of whereas clauses:
叙述性条款的类型。序言部分介绍了有关各方的背景信息、协议背景和协议本身的介绍。有几种“鉴于”条款：
Party-related recitals: one or more whereas clauses can reflect the relevant business activities of each party.
与当事人有关的叙述性条款：一项或多项鉴于条款可以反映当事人的相关业务活动。
Context or background recitals: they describe the events or circumstances, which led to the transaction. This is somewhat of an extension of or elaboration on the contract title: for example, it may explain particularities of a sale, specify the patents or trademarks of a licence, or clarify why a preceding agreement is amended and restated. Such background recital may well touch in broad terms upon the purpose of the transaction, which the parties seek to accomplish.
关于订立合同的背景的叙述性条款：它们描述致交易发生的前提性事件或情况。其在某种程度上是对合同名称的扩展或阐述：例如，它可以解释销售的特殊性，详细说明特许的专利或商标，或者澄清先前协议的修改和重述原因。根据交易的目的，这种背景陈述很可能涉及的范围较广，双方都在寻求实现该交易目的。
Compliance-related recitals: in one or more whereas provisions, the parties might want to express that certain requirements or prerequisites for entering into the agreement have been complied with. For example, a whereas clause may express that an external party has approved the transaction or that regulatory requirements or works council regulations have been complied with.
与合规性有关的叙述性条款：在一项或多项条款中，当事人可能希望表明其已遵照了订立本协议的某些要求或先决条件。例如，鉴于条款可以表示外部当事人已经批准了交易，或者已经遵守了监管要求或工程委员会条例。
Transaction-structure related recitals: in non-standard, complex transactions, it is sometimes inevitable to explain the various steps taken pursuant to the contracts (for instance when a sequence of events is of particular importance).
与交易结构相关的叙述性条款：在非标准且复杂的交易中，有时不可避免地要解释根据合同规定采取的各种步骤（例如，当一系列事件特别重要时）。
Related-transaction recitals: a preamble might well include one or more recitals regarding agreements being entered into at the same time.
关联交易的叙述性条款：序言部分很可能有一个或多个同时签订协议的叙述性条款。
The preamble of a contract normally consists of between one and five paragraphs which outline the entire transaction. In most types of relatively standard contracts, the list of recitals is limited to a few. On the other hand, settlement agreements and highly bespoke (complex) agreements might have a dozen or more recitals, listing each fact or event, the uncertainty to be settled or each party’s point of view regarding a dispute.
合同序言通常由一至五段组成，概述整个交易。在大多数相对标准的类型化合同中，叙述性条款较少。另一方面，和解协议和高度定制（复杂）协议可能有十几个或更多的叙述性条款，其会列出每一个事实或事件、待解决的不确定性或各方对争议的观点。
Contents. The information addressed in the preamble should be limited to intentions, desires or statements of fact. It is customary to limit these statements to subject matters which may result in the validity or enforceability of the contract being directly affected. Other particularities which explain the bigger picture of the envisaged transaction, such as the interdependency of the contract with other agreements (if any) or the requirement that certain crucial conditions be fulfilled or regulatory approvals be given, can be addressed here as well. Altogether, the matters addressed in a preamble should be of such importance that if any of them were not true, the contract should be capable of being nullified on the legal ground of 'mistake’ ('error’).
内容：序言中的信息应限于意图、愿望或事实陈述。习惯上，这些陈述仅限于可能直接影响合同有效性或可执行性的主题。当然也可以包括对合同的其他特性的构想，例如，与其他协议的相关性，或某些合同签订前需满足的重要条件及监管批准手续。总而言之，序言中所述事项应具有重要的意义，即如果其中任何一项不真实，合同应能够基于法律上的不实陈述而被无效。
Recitals may be helpful to define (in non-legal terms) the “Transaction”. Do not however use popular or loose language to describe a subject matter that is otherwise well-defined in a definition as this creates ambiguity.
序言可能有助于定义交易中的一些非法律术语。但是，不要用通俗或不严谨的语句来描述本可以在定义条款中定义的词句，因为这会造成歧义。
No obligations. Whereas-clauses should never contain any obligations, conditions, warranties, policy rules or duties whatsoever.
不规定义务：鉴于条款不应包含任何义务、条件条款、次要条款、政策规则或任何责任。
Recitals are phrased as traditional paragraphs with grammatically complete sentences rather than several clauses leading on from the initial preamble. Accordingly, there is no need to limit the recitals to one sentence only. It is good practice to end each recital with a full stop rather than a semicolon. For example, do not write:
引言是传统的段落，句法完整，而不是从最初的序言开始的几个从句。因此，无需将鉴于条款限于一个句子。最好是以句号而不是分号结束每一个鉴于条款。例如，不要写：
Considering:
(A) that Seller is a major supplier of Products in the semiconductor industry;
(B) that Purchaser desires to establish reliable principles for forecasting, ordering and accepting Products; and
(C) that the Parties desire to put the terms and conditions of their agreement in writing.
Presentation. Recitals in European style contracts are often enumerated by a capital (A), (B), (C) etc. or Roman numbering. Recitals should not be bullet points. U.S. style contracts will often start each recital by the word Whereas,…
样式：欧式合同中的叙述性条款通常用大写字母（a）、（b）、（c）等或罗马数字列举。序言不应该用小点。美式合同每句叙述性条款通常以单词WHEREAS开头。
在我国现行《合同法》中，并没有将鉴于条款收入“一般包括以下条款”中，换而言之，不属于我国的必备条款，因此较少引起重视。
而在英美司法实践中，合同是否成立的裁判标准之一即为合同是否具有确定性。若合同的正文不明确，光靠合同正文无法确定合同内容时，鉴于条款的内容会成为明确合同内容、把握当事人真正意图的重要资料。此为鉴于条款的证约效力。
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