obligations de moyens

15:26 Mar 14, 2017 

as opposed to a performance obligation, the latter being "obligation de résultat"

09:25 Mar 13, 2017 

16:09 Mar 12, 2017 

The Sunday virtual cuppa and neuronal chinwag sesh' around obligations and duties. ;-) See you around!

13:29 Mar 12, 2017 

I will go with 'XXX's obligations shall be obligationS to exercise best efforts.'
I enjoyed the discussion very much too - always nice and reassuring to see that we're not alone and how much care goes into our work.

12:18 Mar 12, 2017 

I agree with "obligation to exercise best efforts" (see my 2nd para of 2/2). I differ on the "s" but it's not important.
Nice doing business with you!

11:43 Mar 12, 2017 

On your last thought, I don't know whether an "obligation de moyens" is stronger, but "best efforts" is pretty onerous, though not unlimited. Obligations de moyens seems to mean that "le débiteur s’engage à faire tout ce qui est en son pouvoir pour parvenir à un certain résultat sans garanties", but I would need a French lawyer to tell me whether "everything in its power" means "spending unlimited amounts of money, time, and effort, all to the promissor's detriment" (see your very useful second reference); "best efforts" doesn't seem to go that far, in practice.

11:33 Mar 12, 2017 

The feeling is mutual :)
To take your last point first, I would be inclined to make it plural, because I take it that the ST is referring to a plurality of "obligations" in the contract (each of which imposes a duty to exercise best efforts to fulfil that particular obligation).
I entirely agree with the general point that FR obligation should often be translated as EN duty. On the other hand, as you say, contractual obligations are formalised, and I think that applies here.
However, leaving aside the question of whether it would be better to use duty or obligation here, I do agree that your suggestion reads better than mine. "Best-efforts obligations" is not exactly euphonious, which is not an overriding consideration but not a trivial one either, other things being equal. I would prefer "obligations to exercise best efforts/endeavours".

11:07 Mar 12, 2017 

No probs. Where there's a will, there's a way. The important thing is to contribute and be able to have useful discussions to get to the bottom of the question. I do enjoy exchanging with Charles as I think we work in a similar way on many points. There's no ego-trip thing; just having fun trying to understand, rolling up our neuronal sleeves (myelin, haha!) and lending a hand.

Oh yes, one final thing. The French "obligation de moyens" seems stronger than the usual EN translation for this. I think whan push comes to shove on this one, the best effort obligation (;-) is actually some distance from a literal "obligation of means". In other words, the EN version means you have to try your best and the FR version suggests an obligation to succeed in providing those means! Food for thought. Also, it is worth noting that although usually expressed, these obligations are generally implied in any event... which is perhaps when they become duties? Ok, ok, I'm done!

11:04 Mar 12, 2017 

You are right about the general notion of duty to all and obligations being specific, but that is very general. Interesting though! ;-) The important point is that the term "obligation" in France covers many situations where "duty" would be more appropriate in English.

In this particular instance, "duty to exercise best efforts" works, "obligation" is probably closer to the French, so your suggestion works best for the term. However, even though it is a title, I think "obligation to exercise best efforts" reads much more naturally than "best-efforts obligations". Would it not be better in the singular; to me, the efforts are plural, the obligation is singular in seeking to match that requirement.

11:02 Mar 12, 2017 

"Civil obligations" is a field of law where contract and tort come together and overlap. It is also necessarily about their similarities and their differences.
Yes, "obligation" is a common enough term in contract law. A contract demsontrates willingness to enter into a formal relationship and creates privity of contract. Where there is privity of contract, there is almost always a duty of care, often to exercise reasonable care and skill in carrying out the obligations under the terms of the contract. Obligations are usually formalized and known about, duties may be formalised and are sometimes known about, but it is common for people to be unaware that duties are owed. Tort (negligence) is all about duty of care, reasonable forseeability and remoteness of damage.

08:54 Mar 12, 2017 

I have commented many times in the past on the members-only option. I can't see how it can ever be in the asker's interest to use it. After all, if you think you''ll get better answers from members, you have only to ignore, or give less weight to, answers from non-members, who are clearly identifiable. But in any case that is a false premise, as we see here. For example, the all-time points leader in both EN-SP and SP-EN, Henry Hinds, who unfortunately died quite recently, was a superb translator but was never a member.

As for duties vs obligations, Nikki, I think your formulation is fine and would be happy to vote for it. As a matter of drafting I think it would usually be used when followed by the nature of the duty: "exercise best efforts to...". But "obligation" is a perfectly normal term in contract law generally and there is no general predominance of "duty" over "obligation" in E&W or elsewhere, to my knowledge. In a general sense a duty is something owed to everyone and an obligation is owed to a specific person.

01:30 Mar 12, 2017 

@writeaway and Nikki, I had no idea you were not members. On the contrary, I was hoping to get only the most reliable answers (including yours!) by choosing this requirement. Will be aware of this next time.

01:12 Mar 12, 2017 

is not a great idea. Someone's ability and/or willingness to pay has virtually nothing to do with their translation skills.

00:48 Mar 12, 2017 

Confidence level: 4/5. ;-)
I don't much care for the term "obligation" in English here, in spite of the fact that during my studies in law, we did look at "obligations" under contract law and tort. The main notion was all abut "duty". If your target reader is in England or Wales, the term will have meaning. It seems to work for the US too. Steer away from "reasonable" here, a lower standard than "best".

http://www.gannons.co.uk/contract/agreement/best-endeavours-...

http://www.jonesday.com/best-efforts-and-endeavourscase-anal...

http://reforme-obligations.dalloz.fr/2016/08/08/les-obligati...

P.S. I cannot post an answer so have posted here.