The phrase 'sanctity of contracts' implies that contracts should always be strictly enforced. But when this objective is relentlessly implemented ruinous burdens are sometimes imposed on one party and extravagant enrichments conferred on the other. Despite recognition of the need to control highly unreasonable contracts in various particular contexts, there remain many instances in which the courts have refused to modify unreasonable contracts, sometimes with extravagant results that are avowedly 'grotesque'. In the computer age assent may be inferred from a click on a screen in the absence of any real agreement to the terms, which are often very burdensome to the user. In this book, arguments are advanced in favour of recognition of a general judicial power to relieve against highly unreasonable contracts, not only for the benefit of the disadvantaged party, but for the avoidance of unjust enrichment, and for the avoidance of anomalous gaps in the law.

When people in a relationship disagree about their obligations to each other, they need to rely on a method of reasoning that allows the relationship to flourish while advancing each person's private projects. This book presents a method of reasoning that reflects how people reason through disagreements and how courts create doctrine by reasoning about the obligations arising from the relationship. Built on the ideal of the other-regarding person, Contract Law and Social Morality displays a method of reasoning that allows one person to integrate their personal interests with the interests of another, determining how divergent interests can be balanced against each other. Called values-balancing reasoning, this methodology makes transparent the values at stake in a disagreement, and provides a neutral and objective way to identify and evaluate the trade-offs that are required if the relationship is to be sustained or terminated justly.

Providing a comprehensive and detailed treatment of termination as a remedy for breach of contract, this book gives a current account of the law and explains this complex area in a practical context. This book is divided into four parts. The first section sets out to analyse what is involved in termination and looks at some of the difficulties surrounding the topic, before going on to explain the evolution of the present law and its main principles. The second section provides a thorough analysis of the two key topics of breach and termination. Breach is defined in terms of a failure, without good excuse, to perform an obligation under the contract, and the various aspects of this definition are explained in the light of the relevant authorities. The chapter on breach of contract has continued to take on board the developing principles of contractual construction, most notably in relation to the interpretation of exemption clauses, where Supreme Court and Court of Appeal decisions, namely Impact Funding Solutions Ltd v Barrington Support Services Ltd and Persimmon Homes Ltd v Ove Arup and Partners Ltd, have continued to question the extent to which the traditional approach can be reconciled with the broader canons of commercial construction now adopted by the courts. In the following chapter, termination is defined in the terms of an election by the promisee, in consequence of a breach by the promisor, to claim discharge from his or her own primary obligations under the contract. This process, which can also be seen as a major contractual remedy in its own right, is distinguished from other processes with which it has a close relationship, most notable the right to withhold performance and discharge under the doctrine of frustration. The controversial decision of the Court of Appeal in MSC Mediterranean Shipping Co SA v Cottonex Anstalt is discussed here. The third part addresses the question when the right to terminate for breach arises. The law gives two answers to this question - when the term broken is classified as a 'condition' of when a 'fundamental' breach has occurred. The nature of a 'condition' in this sense is explained, and the criteria for identifying when a term should be classified as such is set out. Similarly, the criteria for identifying a fundamental breach is discussed, as is the difficult relationship between the concepts of fundamental breach and repudiation and the doctrine of anticipatory breach. Recent Court of Appeals decisions are included, such as Spar Shipping AS v Grand China Logistics Holding (Group) Co Ltd, which provides useful guidance as to the relationship between conditions and contractual rights of termination. The fourth and final section considers the consequences of the promisee's election whether to terminate. In this section the legal effects of termination with regard to the obligations and remedies available to the promisee and the promisor, and also its effect on the application of other terms in the contract such as exemption clauses, are analysed. The measure of damages available to the promisee following termination, most notable damages 'on the footing of repudiation' or damages for 'loss of the bargain' is also considered here alongside other general principles governing damages in this context. The position on damages in The Golden Victory has been extended further by Bunge SA v Nidera BV as discussed in Chapter 10. Similarly the examination of the Court of Appeal decision in The New Flamenco provides additional authority on mitigation to damages. Principles relating to restitution recovery are re-examined by reference to three major Supreme Court cases on unjust enrichment: Benedetti v Sawiris; Memelaou v Bank of Cyprus UK Ltd; and Investment Trust Companies v Revenue and Customs Commissioners.

Commercial litigators frequently need to assess whether a disputed contract is valid. This book provides practitioners with an invaluable reference tool, which will enable them to navigate the complex issue of vitiation of contract.

As litigators are aware, when contractual disputes arise, many types of vitiation listed will be argued together or as alternatives to one another. This book provides a comprehensive examination of all the factors vitiating contractual consent from fraud, misrepresentation, non-disclosure, and mistake, to duress, undue influence, unconscionable bargains, and includes chapters on incapacity and unfairness. Finally, the book considers related topics, remedies and the philosophical foundations of the law in this area.

The book will be an invaluable reference tool for lawyers involved in contractual disputes, especially those preparing a case dealing specifically with the factors vitiating contractual consent. It will also be a useful reference for academics and postgraduate students of commercial law.

Peter MacDonald Eggers QC is an established and highly respected silk at 7KBW. He regularly appears before the Commercial Court and the Court of Appeal and in commercial and international arbitrations. He has published widely and teaches at University College London.

Contract Law provides a clear and detailed account of this core subject, explaining the underlying principles and how the law operates in practice. As part of the Textbook Series, the work sets out a clear framework and seeks to explain the intricacies of the law of contract as clearly as possible, without sacrificing the detail that is required for a proper understanding of the subject. The author, Robert Duxbury, has taught and examined the subject at degree level for over 20 years experience which he uses to help break down difficult concepts in a way students find easy to understand. Contract Law is an essential textbook for those studying law at degree or graduate diploma level. Its clarity and comprehensive coverage also make it an indispensable resource for those on modular or PGDL courses.

The principle of party autonomy in contractual choice of law is widely recognised in the law of most jurisdictions. It has been more than thirty years since party autonomy was first accepted in Chinese private international law. However, the legal rules provided in legislation and judicial interpretations concerning the application of the party autonomy principle are abstract and open-ended. Without a critical understanding of the party autonomy principle and appropriate interpretations of the relevant legal rules, judges have not exercised their discretionary power appropriately. The party autonomy principle has been applied in a way that undermines its very purpose, that is, to protect the legitimate expectations of the parties and promote the predictability of outcomes in transnational commercial litigation. Jieying Liang addresses the question of how, when, and with what limitations, parties' choice of law clauses in an international commercial contract should be enforced by Chinese courts.

Problems regarding the nature of consent are at the heart of many of today's most pressing issues. For example, the #MeToo movement has underscored the need to move beyond viewing consent as a simple matter of yes or no. Consent is complex because humans and their relationships are complicated. Humans, as a result of cognitive limitations and emotional and physical vulnerabilities, are susceptible to manipulation and mistakes. Given the potential for regret, are there some things to which one should not be permitted to consent? The consentability quandary becomes more urgent with technological advances. Should we allow body hacking? Cryonics? Consumer travel to Mars? Assisted suicide? In Consentability: Consent and Its Limits, Nancy S. Kim proposes a bold, original framework for evaluating consentability, which considers the complexities surrounding consent.

"This book should be on every publisher's shelf" The Bookseller Clark's Publishing Agreements has long been the 'must have' legal resource for the publishing industry. This comprehensive book provides 25 model agreements, from author agreements to merchandising rights to online licensing to e-book distribution to text and data mining. Whether you are an experienced drafter of publishing agreements, or new to the industry, Clark's Publishing Agreements: A Book of Precedents will prove invaluable in ensuring that your publishing agreements are expertly and effectively drafted. For the Eleventh Edition, all the precedents, explanatory notes and appendices have been thoroughly revised to take account of the latest developments including: - Precedent for a social media influencer - New precedent on Open Access book author agreements - Coverage of audio deals, including arrangements with narrators - Electronic download of the precedents for you to adapt and use in your contracts This new edition will appeal to the legal practitioner market, copyright practitioners, general IP practitioners, media law practitioners, in-house legal market, publishing houses, and literary agents.

Contractual Knowledge: One Hundred Years of Legal Experimentation in Global Markets, edited by Gregoire Mallard and Jerome Sgard, extends the scholarship of law and globalization in two important directions. First, it provides a unique genealogy of global economic governance by explaining the transition from English law to one where global exchanges are primarily governed by international, multilateral, and finally, transnational legal orders. Second, rather than focusing on macro-political organizations, like the League of Nations or the International Monetary Fund, the book examines elements of contracts, including how and by whom they were designed and exactly who (experts, courts, arbitrators, or international organizations) interpreted, upheld, and established the legal validity of these contracts. By exploring such micro-level aspects of market exchanges, this collection unveils the contractual knowledge that led to the globalization of markets over the last century.

This book is the product of a unique collaboration between mainland Chinese scholars and scholars from the civil, common, and mixed jurisdiction legal traditions. It begins by placing the current Chinese contract law (CCL) in the context of an evolutionary process accelerated during China's transition to a market economy. It is structured around the core areas of contract law, anticipatory repudiation (common law) and defense of security (German law); and remedies and damages, with a focus on the availability of specific performance in Chinese law. The book also offers a useful comparison between the CCL and the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts, as well as the Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. The analysis in the book is undertaken at two levels - practical application of the CCL and scholarly commentary.

If a broker-dealer liquidates in federal bankruptcy court, why does an insurance company liquidate in state court, and a bank outside of court altogether? Why do some businesses re-organize under state law 'assignments', rather than the more well-known Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code? Why do some laws use the language of bankruptcy but without advancing policy goals of the Bankruptcy Code? In this illuminating work, Stephen J. Lubben tackles these questions and many others related to the collective law of business insolvency in the United States. In the first book of its kind, Lubben notes the broad similarities between the many insolvency systems in the United States while describing the fundamental differences lurking therein. By considering the whole sweep of these laws - running the gamut from Chapter 11 to obscure receivership provisions of the National Bank Act - readers will acquire a fundamental understanding of the 'law of failure'.

Written by one of the leading contributors to the relational theory of contract, Contractual Relations authoritatively explains the form of the existing law of contract by relating it to its economic, legal, and sociological foundations. This volume demonstrates that economic exchange and legal contract rest on a moral relationship by which each party legitimately pursues its self-interest through recognition of the self-interest of the other. This essential relationship of mutual recognition is in stark contrast to the pursuit of solipsistic self-interest that is central to the classical law of contract. Self-interest of this sort is not morally defensible, nor does it enhance economic welfare. It is for these reasons that the classical law is legally incoherent. The fundamental inadequacies of the classical law's treatment of agreement, consideration, and remedy have emerged as the doctrines of the positive law of contract have been progressively developed to give effect to the relationship of mutual recognition. The welfarist criticism of the classical law has, however, failed to develop a workable concept of self-interest, and so is at odds with what must be retained from the classical law's facilitation of economic exchange and the market economy. The relational law of contract restates self-interest in a morally, economically, and legally attractive manner as the foundation of the social market economy of liberal socialism. Contractual Relations is a fundamental critique of the classical law of contract and the welfarist response to the classical law, and a major statement of the relational theory of contract. This is an essential work for academics, advanced students, and others wishing to understand the fundamental law, economics and sociology of contract and exchange.

This concise landmark in law and jurisprudence offers the first coherent, liberal account of contract law. The Choice Theory of Contracts answers the field's most pressing questions: what is the 'freedom' in 'freedom of contract'? What core values animate contract law and how do those values interrelate? How must the state act when it shapes contract law? Hanoch Dagan and Michael Heller - two of the world's leading private law theorists - show exactly why and how freedom matters to contract law. They start with the most appealing tenets of modern liberalism and end with their implications for contract law. This readable, engaging book gives contract scholars, teachers, and students a powerful normative vocabulary for understanding canonical cases, refining key doctrines, and solving long-standing puzzles in the law.

This concise landmark in law and jurisprudence offers the first coherent, liberal account of contract law. The Choice Theory of Contracts answers the field's most pressing questions: what is the 'freedom' in 'freedom of contract'? What core values animate contract law and how do those values interrelate? How must the state act when it shapes contract law? Hanoch Dagan and Michael Heller - two of the world's leading private law theorists - show exactly why and how freedom matters to contract law. They start with the most appealing tenets of modern liberalism and end with their implications for contract law. This readable, engaging book gives contract scholars, teachers, and students a powerful normative vocabulary for understanding canonical cases, refining key doctrines, and solving long-standing puzzles in the law.

Originally published in 1892, this book was formed from the content of the Yorke Prize Essay for 1891. The text was written by the renowned legal scholar and historian of law, Edward Jenks (1861-1939). It presents a comprehensive history of the doctrine of consideration in English law. Notes are incorporated throughout. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in the doctrine of consideration and legal history.

This book is based on and explains the following sub-contracts published by the Construction Industry Federation: A?A?A?A?Agreement and Conditions of Sub-Contract for use in conjunction with the forms of Main Contract for Public Works Issued by the Department of Finance 2007A?A?A?A?and theA?A?A?A?Agreement and Conditions of Sub-Contract (NN) for use in conjunction with the Forms of Main Contract for Public Works issued by the Department of Finance 2007 where the Sub-Contractor is a specialist who has been Named by the Employer or whose Contract with the employer has been Novated (NN Sub-Contractor).A?A?A?A?

Contracts, the foundation of economic activity, are both vital and misunderstood. Contracts in the Real World, 2nd edition corrects common misunderstandings through a series of engaging stories involving such notable individuals as Martin Luther King, Maya Angelou, Lady Gaga, and Donald Trump. Capturing the essentials of this subject, the book explores recurring issues in contracting and shows how age-old precedents and wisdom still apply today and how contract law's inherent dynamism cautions against exuberant reforms. The accessible yet rigorous approach will appeal to the general reader and specialists alike, and to both teachers and students of contracts.

This brand new title brings together the different streams of the transfer landscape and outlines the separate legal rules all in one accessible place. Data transfers (under data protection legal rules) are one of the most discussed areas of data protection, and are currently undergoing mass change. Following on from Brexit, professionals now have more than one set of transfer rules to comply with, including: - New Adequacy Decision - New Standard Contracts - Forthcoming UK Contracts - Consultation on future laws

Significantly streamlined and updated, the second edition of Andrews' Contract Law now provides a clear and succinct examination of all of the topics in the contract law curriculum. Chapters direct students to the most important decisions in case law and employ a two-level structure to integrate short judicial excerpts into detailed discussion and analysis. Exploration of the law's 'loose ends' strengthens students' ability to effectively analyse case law, and new end-of-chapter questions, which focus on both core aspects of the law and interesting legal loopholes, assist students in preparing for exams. Students are guided through chapter material by concise chapter overviews and a two-colour text design that highlights important chapter elements. Suggestions for further reading and a rich bibliography, which point readers to important pieces of contemporary literature and provide a springboard for deeper investigation of particular topics, lend further support for student learning.

Although presented as being derived from the past, principles in contract law have been subject to constant reformulation, thereby facilitating legal change while simultaneously seeming to preclude it. Principle and policy have been mutually interdependent, propositions not usually being called principles unless they have been perceived to lead to just results in particular cases, and as likely to produce results in future cases that accord with common sense, commercial convenience and sound public policy. The influence of policy has been frequent in contract law, but Stephen Waddams argues that an unmediated appeal to non-legal sources of policy has been constrained by the need to formulate generalised propositions recognised as legal principles. This interrelation of principle and policy has played an important role in enabling an uncodified system to hold a middle course between a rigid formalism on the one hand and an unconstrained instrumentalism on the other.

Roy Granville McElroy (1907-1994) was a lawyer and politician who held the position of Mayor of Auckland, New Zealand from 1965 to 1968. In this book, which was first published in 1941, McElroy provides a comprehensive analysis of impossibility in relation to contract law, drawing a distinction 'between discharge for physical impossibility or for frustration on the one hand and discharge for failure of consideration on the other'. The text was formed from a manuscript written at Cambridge in 1934, and this manuscript was subsequently edited and updated with new chapters by Glanville Williams prior to publication. An index of cases is included and detailed notes are incorporated throughout. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in contract law and impossibility as a legal concept.

In recent years there has been a revival of interest in the philosophical study of contract law. In 1981 Charles Fried claimed that contract law is based on the philosophy of promise and this has generated what is today known as 'the contract and promise debate'. Cutting to the heart of contemporary discussions, this volume brings together leading philosophers, legal theorists, and contract lawyers to debate the philosophical foundations of this area of law.
Divided into two parts, the first explores general themes in the contract theory literature, including the philosophy of promising, the nature of contractual obligation, economic accounts of contract law, and the relationship between contract law and moral values such as personal autonomy and distributive justice. The second part uses these philosophical ideas to make progress in doctrinal debates, relating for example to contract interpretation, unfair terms, good faith, vitiating factors, and remedies. Together, the essays provide a picture of the current state of research in this revitalized area of law, and pave the way for future study and debate.

The recent financial crisis has questioned whether existing contracts may be adapted, terminated or renegotiated as a result of unexpected circumstances. The question is not a new one. In medieval times the notion of clausula rebus sic stantibus was developed to cope with such situations, and Germany introduced the theory of Wegfall der Geschaftsgrundlage. In England, the Coronation cases provided one possible answer. This comparative study explores the possibility of classifying jurisdictions as 'open' or 'closed' in this regard."