partie défaillante

CONT: A breach of contract, no matter what form it may take, always entitles the innocent party to maintain an action for damages, but the rule established by a long line of authorities is that the right of a party to treat a contract as discharged arises only in two types of case. Firstly, where the party in default has repudiated the contract before performance is due or before it has been fully performed. Secondly, where the party in default has committed what in modern judicial parlance is called a fundamental breach.