The Ratio of Freedom of Contract and Unfair Contractual Conditions.

The mechanism of protection from unfair contractual conditions is investigated in the work. The goal is to define the boundaries of freedom of contract in relation to unfair contractual conditions in Russian law. There is author's position on the questions whether the law should ensure fairness, what is the role of contract law in it, whether paternalistic protection of participants in commercial relations is necessary, special attention is paid to foreign experience. The work includes an introduction, 3 chapters and a conclusion. In the first chapter the specifics of the development of unfair contractual conditions in foreign and Russian law are considered, in the second one - weak side of the contract, the main question is should entrepreneurs be recognized as a weak party of the contract? In the final part the analysis of the main tendencies of actual judicial practice is presented. The following conclusions of the work are: there is a tendency to extend protection for entrepreneurial activities in Russian and foreign law, Russian judicial practice, basically, is on the path of non-interference in civil legal relations between equal subjects, but there are many decisions where court unreasonably shows paternalistic protection, therefore, clear indication is needed to limit the judicial control of commercial relations.