Impact of Law 05-02 on the Principle of Balance Between Landlord and Tenant Interests in Commercial Lease Agreements: Between the Provisions of Old Law and New Amendment

Objective: This article aims to shed light on the extent to which the principle of balancing the legal positions of the lessor and the lessee has been established in light of the Commercial Law before and after the issuance of Law 05-02, as well as to address the new developments in the approach adopted by the Algerian legislator in the context of providing a legal framework that protects the contractual relationship related to commercial leasing. Theoretical framework: The Algerian legislator has been keen to devote enhanced protection to the tenant by stipulating the tenant’s right to commercial ownership and renewal of the commercial lease, as well as the eviction notice and the compensation due when the landlord refuses to renew the commercial lease. However, this protection has diminished with the issuance of Law 05-02 amending and supplementing the Commercial Law, through which the legislator introduced a number of important amendments that affected the provisions of the commercial lease, represented in amending the rent and the lease term, especially the requirement of the official form for drafting the commercial lease contract, especially the introduction of Article 187 bis obligating the tenant to leave the commercial premises, and exempting the landlord from his obligation to notify the eviction and the compensation due, which led to an imbalance between the interests of the landlord and the tenant. Methods: As an analytical study, the methodology of analyzing the content of the legal rules related to commercial leasing was relied upon, whether before or after the amendment, and comparing them to reach the various provisions related to evaluating the extent to which the Algerian legislator balances the positions of the lessor and the lessee.The descriptive methodology was also relied upon, by relying on studies published in this context, in order to list the various points of view presented on the legislator's position on the contract related to commercial leasing, as well as to come up with new results to rely on in discussing the new law. Research implications: In the context of discussing a deep research problem, which is to estimate the position of the Algerian legislator towards the parties to the commercial lease contract, and their legal positions, through what it has established of rights and duties for each of the parties, the practical aspect surrounding the application of the legal text makes extracting the protective objectives that the legislator has taken into consideration the subject of unstable provisions, are the targeted dimensions purely legal, or do they follow a new legal approach within the framework of the new policies in legislation in general in Algeria. Originality of the research: The article studies the points of failure that may arise between the positions of the tenant and the landlord in the commercial lease contract, and raises the most important challenges facing the implementation of the new direction of the Algerian legislator, especially in the context of encouraging foreign investment, and the advantages that the tenant must enjoy in the context of eliminating the complications that may arise within the framework of these contracts.