Wirklichkeitsstörungen zwischen Vertrag und Gesetz

This article develops a systematic account of contractual »distortions of reality« by clarifying the relationship between remedies for non-performance and defective performance, impossibility and »interference with the basis of the transaction«. It distinguishes contract-internal limits grounded in freedom of contract from extra-contractual heteronomous risk allocation, and challenges the view of § 313 BGB as an exception to pacta sunt servanda. Analysis of recent case law on pandemic-related risks reveals doctrinal inconsistencies - interpretation of the Code rather than the contract - and calls for greater transparency in judicial decision-making.