How realistic is E.L.James trilogy from a legal point of view ?

Most of you have read the book Fifty Shades of Grey 2011 erotic romance novel written by British author E.L. James and even have watched the movie.   

 Fifty Shades trilogy that traces the deepening relationship between a college graduate, Anastasia Steele, and a young business magnate, Christian Grey. It is notable for its explicitly erotic scenes featuring elements of s*xual practices. 

However, what do we know about the legal aspects of the contract suggested by Christian Grey to Anastasia Steele for conclusion ?

Well, if the plot of the book is transformed into real life, then there would be raised several crucial questions about the characteristics and validity of the contract, in other words, if the contract might be enforceable or not.  

Do you think people actually have such a contract with one another ? Well, there are some court precedents regarding such kind of contracts, however, lets discuss the validity of such contracts by transforming the plot of it into the real life. 

The Contract is outlining potential BDSM relationship. Lets analyze some contract provisions and see if the contract could be invalid or unenforceable.This contract can be signed for assumption of the risk which requires a legal analysis;

The preamble of the contract says......

The Fundamental purpose of the contract is; to allow the Submissive to explore his sensuality and his limits safely.....

Such preambles of contracts usually helps to understand core values and purposes of the contract, which in turn, unchain relevant blocked legal provisions and very useful for the interpretation conducted by courts. But it is not enough for the contract interpretation, lets discuss some crucial clauses in the contract.

Clause 9 of the contract says that the Submissive is to serve and obey the Dominant in all things. 

This Clause sounds weird and it means all things which may be legal or illegal. In order to understand the relevant borderlines of the obligations, default rules come for help, in other words, any act conducted by the parties should not be against the law of the contract (applicable law). Also, this clause is a little bit vague and violating one of the fundamental principles in contract law ''Equal Treatment of the Contracting Parties''. Anastasia Steele did not have a right to negotiate such a legal provision. 

Clause 15.22 The Submissive shall not look directly into the eyes of the Dominant except when specifically instructed to do so. 

Again not equally treated provision and besides, a question may come up if the Christian Grey may sue Anastasia Steele with respect to the violation of Clause 15.22...in other words, if the Anastasia Steele looks directly into the eyes of the Dominant, what happens then ? .....so, in this case, the court shall issue a court order;(injunction) not to look directly into the eyes of the Dominant....but if the Submissive does not follow the court order, the Submissive may go to prison.

Thus, worth to mention that based on separability principle any provision in this contract shall be invalid, illegal or unenforceable, however, the validity, legality and enforceability of the remaining provisions or the contract itself in whole shall not in any way be affected or impaired thereby, if the contract is valid in whole, according to the respective applicable law. 

So, is the contract valid or enforceable in general ? 

As a corporate lawyer, I would not answer to this question directly..... I would say.....depends on a legal system.....

But, lets imagine applicable law of the contract is the laws of the Republic of Azerbaijan.....the answer: 

the contract would not be  valid or enforceable for a number of reasons; Good Faith, Morals, and the other issues which may be subject to invalidity of the contract:

Well, by analyzing all the provisions in the contract, it is clear that the provision of the contract are not equally drafted and the performance of some obligations on Anastasia Steele are subject to impossibility as Anastasia Steele is not capable or would not be capable of performing such obligations.

Good faith is one of the reasons for the invalidity of the contract. But, what is Good Faith ?

In contract law, the implied covenant of good faith is a general presumption that the parties to a contract will deal with each other honestly and fairly, so as not to violate the right of the other party or parties to receive the benefits of the contract.

According to the civil law of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the subjects of civil legal relationships shall to exercise their rights and fulfill their obligations in Good Faith.The contract is asking for a lot of things she has never done in her life. and if she hasn’t done such things in her life before how can she in good faith sign such a contract?

Then another question comes up, Is Anastasia Steele's right violated in this contract and is it supposed to be signed in Bad Faith ? Most probably, yes, as Anastasia Steele did not have a right to negotiate the contract provisions. In other words, the contract provisions are not equally drafted (Principle of Equally Treatment of the Contracting Parties) which leads the contract to be concluded in Bad Faith.

Another issue is moral values.....

The notion of moral values is very broad in legal sciences, and difficult to interpret, because it depends on society, culture and its various uncountable values. Anastasia Steele wouldn't sign the Christian Grey's contract because it violated her personal ethics. She was willing to do what he wanted for love, but not for money.

And that is the crux of the books, he wanted the interactions for money and was terrified of love, but they moved towards each others positions and both grew from it.

According to the Civil Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Civil rights may be restricted by law only where necessary for the protection of the health and morals of society, rights and freedoms, and the dignity and good name of other persons. Supposedly, under this Article, the contract would be void or invalid especially for the protection of the health and morals, rights and freedoms, and the dignity and good name of Anastasia Steele, as for instance, Clause 15.13 says Anastasia Steele accepts that she is now Christian Grey's property. 

Thereby, this contract is only valid, if it is not contrary to moral requirements and do not violate the interests of third parties.

Also, based on the civil law of the Republic of Azerbaijan, all fictitious contracts are void and due to fictitiousness, this contract could be invalid or void, because, maybe Christian did not wish to establish legal consequences by concluding this contract which is a fundamental reason to consider it fictitious.

Moreover, pursuant to the legislation of the Republic of Azerbaijan, a contract which is concluded as a result of abuse of power, fraud, coercion, threat, bad faith contract of representative of one party with the other party or duress as well as extremely non-beneficial to a person agreement concluded as a result of duress and other party’s utilization of this (agreement with hard conditions), can be subject to dispute by Anastasia Steele or considered void, if one of the above mentioned issues is involved in. 

However, after careful research of the reasons which cause invalidity of such contract under the civil law of the Republic of Azerbaijan, another important issue which is regulated by the criminal law may come up too; Prostitution....unlike in some states (Norway, Iceland, Sweden, Canada, Nevada in USA), prostitution is also a reason for invalidity of the contract, as it is a forbidden by the criminal law of the Republic of Azerbaijan. 

Thus, this type of invalid agreements shall not result in legal consequences except for consequences relating to its invalidity. Such agreement shall be invalid from the moment of its conclusion. Each party shall, in the event of invalidity of agreement be obligated to return to the other party all items received pursuant to agreement, and in the event of impossibility of return of the same received items (including where received items have been expressed in the use of property, performed work or rendered service), be obligated to compensate for its value in money. In this case, Anastasia Steel may require compensation for its value in money, if this contract is considered invalid or void. 

Having analyzed the contract to have been plotted in the book written by British author E.L. James, hope you to have a little bit understanding of the invalidity issues of the sophisticated contract law, especially such contracts and to find this article interesting from a legal point of view.