1. Introduction to the law of contract

Course-focused and comprehensive, Poole’s Textbook on Contract Law provides an accessible overview of the key areas on the law curriculum. Contracts are legally enforceable agreements intended for planned exchanges that are regulated by the principles of contract law. This chapter looks at some of the main theories underpinning the development of English contract law and examines the nature of contractual liability. Contractual obligations arise largely from party agreement and this distinguishes contractual liability from liability in tort. Given the continued relevance of English law in a globalized world (in spite of the UK exiting the European Union), this chapter also briefly introduces the various attempts to produce a set of harmonized principles such as the Common European Sales Law, along with the impact of other international developments including the growth in e-commerce and electronic communications. Moreover, the chapter analyses the most significant European directives and their effect on the development of English contract law, especially in the context of consumer contracts. The implementation of these European directives has resulted in the introduction of the concept of ‘good faith’ into English contract law. Given the increasing importance of good faith as a concept, especially when in the context of ‘a relational contract’, the chapter gives detailed discussion on the scope of and application of good faith in performance of the contract. Finally, the chapter considers the implementation of the Consumer Rights Directive in a number of statutory instruments and the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

THE PRE-CONTRACTUAL DUTY OF DISCLOSURE IN THE PALESTINIAN CIVIL CODE DRAFT AND ITS ROLE IN MAINTAINING ECONOMIC CONTRACTUAL EQUILIBRIUM

Many recent legislations and international principles tend to apply the pre-contractual duty of disclosure as one of the most substantial principles governing the pre-contracting phase, such as Article 1112-1 of the Amended French Civil Code of 2016, Article 1337 of the Amended Italian Civil Code and Article 13 of chapter 2 of the Common European Sales Law, etc. However, the Palestinian legislature has ignored enacting legal provisions imposing the pre-contractual duty of disclosure which causes legislative deficiencies in the legislative remedies of the subject of pre-contractual duty of disclosure. In this regard, this paper suggests orientations for the formulation of the provisions of the pre-contractual duty of disclosure in the Palestinian Civil Code Draft (PDCC). To do so, a comparative analytical approach with the French civil code is used to illustrate the Palestinian legislative deficiencies and the urgent need to legislate a legal article which obligates the negotiating party to disclose any substantial information for the satisfaction of the other party. As such, the contractual equilibrium entails that the pre-contractual duty of disclosure has its own independent essence from all the theories that the jurisprudence adopted as a legal basis for this duty.

The Concept and Content of Adaptation of Ukrainian Civil Legislation to EU Legislation in the Field of Sales

The article investigates the legal nature of the processes of adaptation of the civil legislation of Ukraine to the EU legislation in the field of purchase and sale. The issues studied in the scientific work are updated through the prism of re-encoding of civil legislation in Ukraine. The author emphasizes the importance of the process of approximation of legal orders within integration associations or other international organizations. Legislative approximation with EU law means the transposition, implementation and enforcement of EU law in the national legal practice of third countries; legislative process aimed at gradually approximating and bringing the legal framework of partner countries in line with EU law. The author studies the draft Common European sales law (CESL) through the prism of its importance for the harmonization of EU law and the adaptation of national legal orders. In the article the author emphasizes the ambiguity of interpretations of the content of the adaptation of national legislation. The author takes the position that adaptation is not limited to issues of legislation, as it is about law enforcement practice and legal techniques. The author proposes to perceive adaptation as a component of the harmonization process, which is aimed at purposeful convergence and harmonization of legal regulations in order to achieve consistency of legislation in a particular area. In fact, adaptation is the final stage of harmonization of legislation, because without the harmonization of national legislation with a single body of legislation, there will be no process of harmonization within a particular international community or community. Given the content of the Association Agreement, the author points out the main areas of adaptation of civil law in the field of purchase and sale: consumer protection in the field of electronic commerce; consumer protection against unfair pricing methods; consumer protection in the field of product safety, etc. The author defines the concept of adaptation of civil legislation of Ukraine to EU legislation in the field of purchase and sale as a process of gradually achieving compatibility of existing civil legislation and new acts of Ukraine with EU acts in the field of sale.

Duty to renegotiate in international commercial law and uncontemplated behavioural effects

This paper explores possible uncontemplated effects and behavioural implications created by duty-to-negotiate provisions in international instruments. More precisely, the paper considers how five different international instruments approach the subject, namely the Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG), UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts (PICC), Principles of European Contract Law (PECL), Draft Common Frame of Reference (DCFR) and Common European Sales Law (CESL). The extent to which these international and European legal instruments correspond to recent economic and behavioural findings is examined. Moreover, an economically inspired analysis is conducted of the uncontemplated consequences of the duty to renegotiate that well-intended international lawmakers never anticipated. Further, it is suggested that game theoretical and behavioural reasons might exist for adopting a cautious approach to the duty to renegotiate in instances of unforeseen contingencies as found in the CISG as well as the English, German, US and Scottish law of contracts. JEL classification: C23, C26, C51, K42, O43

1. Introduction to the law of contract

Course-focused and comprehensive, the Textbook on series provides an accessible overview of the key areas on the law curriculum. Contracts are legally enforceable agreements intended for planned exchanges that are regulated by the principles of contract law. This chapter looks at some of the main theories underpinning the development of English contract law and examines the nature of contractual liability. Contractual obligations arise largely from party agreement and this distinguishes contractual liability from liability in tort. Given the continued relevance of English law in a globalized world (and the fact that as of this date, the UK is still part of the European Union), this chapter also briefly introduces the various attempts to produce a set of harmonized principles such as the Common European Sales Law, along with the impact of other international developments including the growth in e-commerce and electronic communications. Moreover, the chapter analyses the most significant European directives and their effect on the development of English contract law, especially in the context of consumer contracts. The implementation of these European directives has resulted in the introduction of the concept of ‘good faith’ into English contract law. Given the increasing importance of good faith as a concept, the chapter gives detailed discussion on the scope of ‘good faith’, and whether there is an implied duty of good faith in performance. Finally, the chapter considers the implementation of the Consumer Rights Directive in a number of statutory instruments and the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

Change of Circumstances and Force Majeure Clauses in Serbian Legal System and Sources of International Uniform Law

The effects of globalisation are many. One of them is the effect that globalisation has on commercial contracts and contractual relations between contracting parties. Due to a fast pace of economy and the speed and volume of the conclusion of contracts in international trade, participants must rely on stable and reliable legal framework for contractual obligations. In globalised economy, traders from different countries bring with them individual trade practices and norms of national legislation, often diametrically opposed, and sometimes the legal institutes that are regulated in one country don’t even exist in another. This is the case with the institutes of force majeure and a change of circumstances. Due to large differences in the regulation of these two institutes in national legal systems, there have been demonstrated some attempts of standardisation and creation of a unified system of exemption from liability for non-performance, due to force majeure or a change of circumstances. This problem becomes even more evident when dealing with the long term contracts, which are prone to the effects of unforeseen circumstances. This paper aims to explore the nature of the above mentioned legal institutes in some of the most important sources of international commercial law. With a special attention paid to the Serbian regulatory solutions, in order to further understand the similarities and differences between the national legal systems and sources of international law. The first part of the paper deals with applicable legal framework in Republic of Serbia, concerning force majeure and a change of circumstances. The second part of the paper deals with the international sources of commercial law, such as UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods of 1980; UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts; Principles of European Contract Law; Draft Common Frame of Reference; and Common European Sales Law.

Commentaries on European Contract Laws

The book provides rule-by-rule commentaries on European contract law (general contract law, consumer contract law, the law of sale and related services), dealing with its modern manifestations as well as its historical and comparative foundations. After the collapse of the European Commission's plans to codify European contract law it is timely to reflect on what has been achieved over the past three to four decades, and for an assessment of the current situation. In particular, the production of a bewildering number of reference texts has contributed to a complex picture of European contract laws rather than a European contract law. The present book adopts a broad perspective and an integrative approach. All relevant reference texts (from the CISG to the Draft Common European Sales Law) are critically examined and compared with each other. As far as the acquis commun (ie the traditional private law as laid down in the national codifications) is concerned, the Principles of European Contract Law have been chosen as a point of departure. The rules contained in that document have, however, been complemented with some chapters, sections, and individual provisions drawn from other sources, primarily in order to account for the quickly growing acquis communautaire in the field of consumer contract law. In addition, the book ties the discussion concerning the reference texts back to the pertinent historical and comparative background; and it thus investigates whether, and to what extent, these texts can be taken to be genuinely European in nature, ie to constitute a manifestation of a common core of European contract law. Where this is not the case, the question is asked whether, and for what reasons, they should be seen as points of departure for the further development of European contract law.