Vanishing contract law: Common Law in the Age of Contracts

Research output: Book/ReportBook

Abstract

English contract law provides the invisible framework that underpins and enables much contracting activity in society, yet the role of the law in policing many of our contracts now approaches vanishing point. The methods by which contracts come into existence, and notionally create binding obligations, have transformed over the past forty years. Consumers now enter into contracts through remote and automated processes on standard terms over which they have little control. This book explores the substantive weakening of the institution of contract law in a society heavily dependent on contracts. It considers significant areas of contracting activity that affect many people, but that escape serious and sustained legal scrutiny. An accessibly written and succinct account of contract law's past, present and future, it assesses the implications of a diminished contract law, and the possibilities, if any, for its revival.
Original languageEnglish
PublisherCambridge University Press
Number of pages250
ISBN (Electronic)9781009082600
ISBN (Print)9781316514139
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Sept 2022

Publication series

NameLaw in Context
PublisherCambridge University Press

Keywords

  • contract law
  • common law
  • private ordering
  • regulation
  • relational contract theory

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