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14:37 Oct 30, 2018 

Thank you, Laura. The trans-lex reference is very useful.

14:27 Oct 30, 2018 

Per your suggestion, I submitted it so you can grade and close the question.

17:33 Oct 29, 2018 

Ah, OK, now we know where it comes from, it's easier to search for! Presumably you found the TransLex translation of the Civil Code where it's translated as 'person subject to assignment'. Obviously, though, that's not an official translation and you can choose what you like! https://www.trans-lex.org/601101/_/french-civil-code-2016/

17:20 Oct 29, 2018 

Thank you all for helping! I went with Eliza's suggestion for using "counterparty" and "other contracting party". (Eliza, do you want to submit this as an answer, so I can grade and close?)

For the record this was a reference from the French Civil Code which appeared as a footnote in my text (litigation between an internet service provider and one of their users):

Article 1216 du Code Civil :

« Un contractant, le cédant, peut céder sa qualité de partie au contrat à un tiers, le cessionnaire, avec l'accord de son cocontractant, le cédé.
Cet accord peut être donné par avance, notamment dans le contrat conclu entre les futurs cédant et cédé, auquel cas la cession produit effet à l'égard du cédé lorsque le contrat conclu entre le cédant et le cessionnaire lui est notifié ou lorsqu'il en prend acte.
La cession doit être constatée par écrit, à peine de nullité.

17:02 Oct 29, 2018 

It would help if you clarified exactly what is going on here and the contractual roles of the original contracting parties. What is the "cédant" assigning to the step-in party?

15:45 Oct 29, 2018 

Whether or not the asker needs a US term, the term you've posted (obligor) could be incorrect because we don't know who is allowed to assign the contract or what they're allowed to assign, under the contract that the asker is translating.

For instance, re the links you posted: It's common for an "obligee" to assign their contractual RIGHTS to a third party, that's indeed true. For instance, a patent holder might sign a license with you under which you're obligated to pay royalties, and then assign the right to collect royalties to a third party. The license continues in force; you just have to send your royalty checks to the third party.

But we don't know if that's what asker's contract says, and it sounds like it's not. The original French text describes assigning the entire contract -- one party's rights AND obligations -- to a third party. In such a case, the person assigning the contract is both an obligor (they have obligations under the contract) and an obligee (they have rights under the contract). So it would not make sense to call them an obligee and the other original party an obligor.

14:58 Oct 29, 2018 

You'll just need a workaround. I've looked in a few legal dictionaries to confirm my sense that we don't have a word for this. We just say something along the lines of "the counterparty" or "the other contracting party" or "the [name of contract role, e.g., licensor, landlord, etc.]."

Here are words we use: to assign (céder); the assignor (le cédant); the assignee (or if plural, assignees or assigns) (le cessionaire); and of course, assignment (cession or transfert).

But there doesn't seem to be a specific word, at least not in US law, for the contracting party who is remaining a party to the contract being assigned. Personally, at least in the posted sentence, I would say, "its co-contractor, [PARTY ROLE e.g. Online Service Provider]." Would the term for the party role work in the other instance where cédé appears in this contract?

09:33 Oct 29, 2018 

I think you're going to have to find a workaround rather than looking for a neat equivalent. The following entry from IATE (on a 'tiers-cédé) doesn't provide an answer but shows how hard it is to say it in English! http://iate.europa.eu/SearchByQuery.do?method=searchDetail&l...