1. Differences between public and private contracts

1.1 Private contracts: free sector for awarding and execution

This is the domain of "contractual freedom", in which the parties are free to negotiate the clauses of the contract that will bind them. As stated in Article 1102 of the French Civil Code, "everyone is free to contract or not to contract, to choose his or her co-contractor and to determine the content and form of the contract within the limits set by law". But "freedom of contract does not allow derogation from rules of public order" (same article), i.e. rules laid down by laws considered to be imperative in social relations.