Good Faith in European Contract Law (The Common Core of European Private Law)

Cambridge University Press, 6/8/2000
EAN 9780521771900, ISBN10: 0521771900

Hardcover, 756 pages, 22.8 x 15.2 x 4.5 cm
Language: English

For some Western European legal systems the principle of good faith has proved central to the development of their law of contracts, while in others it has been marginalized or even rejected. This book starts by surveying the use or neglect of good faith in these legal systems and explaining its historical origins. The central part of the book takes thirty situations which would, in some legal systems, attract the application of good faith, analyses them according to fifteen national legal systems and assesses the practical significance of both the principle of good faith and its relationship to other contractual and non-contractual doctrines and forms of regulation in each situation. The book concludes by explaining how European lawyers, whether from a civil or common law background, may need to come to terms with the principle of good faith. This was the first completed project of The Common Core of European Private Law launched at the University of Trento.

Part I. Setting the Scene
1. Good faith in European contract law
surveying the legal landscape Simon Whittaker and Reinhard Zimmermann
2. Bona fides in roman contract law Martin Josef Schermaier
3. Good faith in contract law in the medieval IUS commune James Gordley
4. The conceptualization of good faith in American contract law
a general account Robert S. Summers
Part II. The Case Studies
Case 1
Courgettes perishing
Discussions
editors' comparative observations
Case 2
Degas drawing
Discussions
editors' comparative observations
Case 3
Breaking off negotiations
Discussions
editors' comparative observations
Case 4. Formalities I
Discussions
editors' comparative observations
Case 5
Formalities II
Discussions
editors' comparative observations
Case 6. One bag too few
Discussions
Editors' comparative observations
Case 7
Late payment of rent
Discussions
editors' comparative observations
Case 8
Delivery at night
Discussions
editors' comparative observations
Case 9
Uniformity of outfit
Discussions
Editors' comparative observations
Case 10
Dissolution of partnership
Discussions
editors' comparative observations
Case 11
Untested motors working Discussions
editors' comparative observations
Case 12
No use for borrowed motorbike
Discussions
editors' comparative observations
Case 13
Inspecting the books
Discussions
editors' comparative observations
Case 14
Producing new bumpers
Discussions
editors' comparative observations
Case 15
Two cracks in a shed
Discussions
editors' comparative observations
Case 16
Drug causing drowsiness in driving
Discussions
editors' comparative observations
Case 17
Bank miscrediting customer
Discussions
editors' comparative observations
Case 18
Access to medical records
Discussions
editors' comparative observations
Case 19
Doctors swapping practice
Discussions
editors' comparative observations
Case 20
Prescription I
Discussions
Editors' comparative observations
Case 21
Prescription II
Discussions
Editors' comparative observations
Case 22
Sitting on one's rights
Discussions
editors' comparative observations
Case 23
Long term business relationships I
Discussions
editors' comparative observations
Case 24
Long term business relationships II
Discussions
editors' comparative observations
Case 25
Effect of inflation
Discussions
Editors' comparative observations
Case 26
'Sale' of soccer player
Discussions
editors' comparative observations
Case 27
Disability insurance
Discussions
editors' comparative observations
Case 28
Crop destroyed by hail
Case 29
Divorce settlement
Discussions
editors' comparative observations
Case 30
Penalty for late delivery
Discussions
editors' comparative observations
Coming to terms with good faith Simon Whittaker and Reinhard Zimmermann.

Review of the hardback: 'It is impossible within the span of a short review to do full justice to the quantity of information amassed in Good Faith in European Contract Law. The project was well-conceived, the data is well-presented and the analysis, which seems comfortingly agnostic about the merits of general good faith provisions, is balanced and shrewd. This book sets a high standard for future volumes in the 'Common Core' project to emulate as well as providing scholars and teachers of comparative law with a fund of instructive materials.' Roderick Munday, The Cambridge Law Journal