widerruflich

Widerruflich is a German adjective meaning revocable or cancellable. It is used to describe actions, agreements or authorisations that an issuer may withdraw or cancel at will, provided that the revocation reaches the other party in a timely manner and before the action has taken effect or been accepted.

In contract law, offers and provisional agreements are often described as widerruflich. An offer that is widerruflich can be revoked by the offeror any time before the offeree accepts, unless the offer explicitly states that it is binding for a certain period. If the offeror has committed themselves to keeping the offer open for a fixed time, the offer is no longer widerruflich during that period and is effectively irrevocable for that time.

A term equivalent to widerruflich is freibleibend, which indicates that the offer is not binding and can be withdrawn at any time before receipt of acceptance. In contrast, a document described as unwiderruflich or irrevocable signals a binding promise that cannot be withdrawn within a specified timeframe.

Separately, in consumer law the term Widerrufsrecht refers to the right to withdraw from a contract, typically within a statutory period after purchase. This is a substantive consumer protection right rather than a feature of an offer being widerruflich.

Common contexts include commercial offers, price quotations, and provisional authorisations. The concept underscores the distinction between negotiable, revocable positions and firm commitments that become binding once accepted.