Law of Obligations — Overview
This theme contains three subjects, namely: Contract, Restitution and Tort
Contract
Discussion Groups
These self-sustaining groups are an essential part of the life of our graduate school. They are organised in some cases by graduate students and in others by Faculty members and meet regularly during term, typically over a sandwich lunch, when one of the group presents work in progress or introduces a discussion of a particular issue or new case. They may also encompass guest speakers from the faculty and beyond.
Publications
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Guenter Treitel, '' in Michael Bridge (ed), Benjamin's Sale of Goods (Sweet & Maxwell 2012)
M Chen-Wishart, 'A Bird in the Hand: Consideration and One-Sided Contract Modifications' in AS Burrows, E Peel (eds), Contract Formation and Parties (Oxford University Press 2010) [...]
If we accept that a bird in the hand is the worth two in the bush then the idea that the receipt of performance (even part performance) confers a benefit over and above the right to performance, and can be exchanged for something from the recipient, is consistent with the core idea of the consideration doctrine. All that remains is to replace the bilateral contract analysis in Williams v Roffey with a unilateral contract analysis (the promisor is only bound if the stipulated performance is actually received). This is preferable to three recently mooted alternatives to consideration as the primary test of enforceability: (i) the test of serious intention subject to contrary policies advanced in Antons Trawling v Smith; (ii) the version of promissory estoppel advanced in Collier v Wright, and (iii) leaving it all to the vitiating factors advocated in Gay Choon Ing v Loh Sze Ti Terence Peter.
ISBN: 9780199583706
A S Burrows, A Casebook on Contract (Hart 2007)
W E Peel, 'Affirmation by Termination' (2009) 125 Law Quarterly Review 378 [Case Note]
W E Peel, 'Agreements to Negotiate in Good Faith' in Andrew Burrows and Edwin Peel (eds), Contract Formation and Parties (OUP 2010) [...]
An essay concerning the limits to the enforceability of agreements to negotiate and a proposal for reform
ISBN: 978-0-19-958370-6
Courses
The courses we offer in this field are:
Undergraduate
FHS (Phase II)
The degree is awarded on the basis of nine final examinations at the end of the three-year course (or four years in the case of Law with Law Studies in Europe) and (for students who began the course in October 2011 or later) an essay in Jurisprudence written over the summer vacation at the end of the second year. Note: the Jurisprudence exam at the end of the third year is correspondingly shorter. This phase of the Final Honour School includes the third term of the first year, and all three terms of the second year.
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The syllabus comprises the general principles of the law governing enforceable agreements. It is not concerned with special rules governing specific types of contracts, such as sale, carriage or employment. The principal topics normally discussed are: (a) the rules relating to the formation of agreements and to certain further requirements which must be satisfied to make agreements legally enforceable; (b) the contents of a contract and the rules governing the validity of terms which exclude or restrict liability; (c) the nature and effects in a contractual context of mistake, misrepresentation, duress and undue influence; (d) the general principle that right and duties arising under a contract can only be enforced by and against the parties to it; (e) performance and breach, including the right to terminate for failure in performance and the effects of wrongful repudiation; (f) supervening events as a ground of discharge under the doctrine of frustration; (g) remedies for breach of contract by way of damages, action for the agreed sum, specific performance and injunction. (h) the basis of contractual liability.
Contract is one of the compulsory standard subjects within the Final Honour School syllabus. It also covers material in the “foundations of legal knowledge” and so must be taken by those seeking a professional qualification in England and Wales.
The subject is taught in tutorials arranged by your college tutor. Particular areas are also explored in lectures.
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Diploma in Legal Studies
A one-year sample of courses from our BA programmes, aimed only at students visiting from our partner universities.
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The syllabus comprises the general principles of the law governing enforceable agreements. It is not concerned with special rules governing specific types of contracts, such as sale, carriage or employment. The principal topics normally discussed are: (a) the rules relating to the formation of agreements and to certain further requirements which must be satisfied to make agreements legally enforceable; (b) the contents of a contract and the rules governing the validity of terms which exclude or restrict liability; (c) the nature and effects in a contractual context of mistake, misrepresentation, duress and undue influence; (d) the general principle that right and duties arising under a contract can only be enforced by and against the parties to it; (e) performance and breach, including the right to terminate for failure in performance and the effects of wrongful repudiation; (f) supervening events as a ground of discharge under the doctrine of frustration; (g) remedies for breach of contract by way of damages, action for the agreed sum, specific performance and injunction. (h) the basis of contractual liability.
Contract is one of the compulsory standard subjects within the Final Honour School syllabus. It also covers material in the “foundations of legal knowledge” and so must be taken by those seeking a professional qualification in England and Wales.
The subject is taught in tutorials arranged by your college tutor. Particular areas are also explored in lectures.
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Postgraduate
MJur
Our taught postgraduate programme, designed to serve outstanding law students from civil law backgrounds.
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Contract (also part of the BA course)
The syllabus comprises the general principles of the law governing enforceable agreements. It is not concerned with special rules governing specific types of contracts, such as sale, carriage or employment. The principal topics normally discussed are: (a) the rules relating to the formation of agreements and to certain further requirements which must be satisfied to make agreements legally enforceable; (b) the contents of a contract and the rules governing the validity of terms which exclude or restrict liability; (c) the nature and effects in a contractual context of mistake, misrepresentation, duress and undue influence; (d) the general principle that right and duties arising under a contract can only be enforced by and against the parties to it; (e) performance and breach, including the right to terminate for failure in performance and the effects of wrongful repudiation; (f) supervening events as a ground of discharge under the doctrine of frustration; (g) remedies for breach of contract by way of damages, action for the agreed sum, specific performance and injunction. (h) the basis of contractual liability.
Contract is one of the compulsory standard subjects within the Final Honour School syllabus. It also covers material in the “foundations of legal knowledge” and so must be taken by those seeking a professional qualification in England and Wales.
The subject is taught in tutorials arranged by your college tutor. Particular areas are also explored in lectures.
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People
Contract teaching is organized by a Subject Group convened by:
Mindy Chen-Wishart: Reader in Contract Law
in conjunction with:
Dapo Akande: University Lecturer in Public International Law
Alexandra Braun: CUF Lecturer
Adrian Briggs: Professor of Private International Law
Susan Bright: Professor of Land Law, McGregor Fellow
Andrew Burrows, QC: Professor of the Law of England
John Cartwright: Professor of the Law of Contract
Andrew Dyson: College Lecturer and Tutor in Law
Joshua Getzler: Professor of Law and Legal History
Katharine Grevling: CUF Lecturer
Louise Gullifer: Professor of Commercial Law
Jonathan Herring: Professor of Law
Andrew Higgins: Lecturer in Civil Procedure
Thomas Krebs: University Lecturer in Commercial Law
Ewan McKendrick: Registrar
Peter Mirfield: CUF Lecturer
Donal Nolan: CUF Lecturer
Edwin Peel: Professor of Law
Jeremias Prassl: Supernumerary Teaching Fellow in Law
Simon Whittaker: Professor of European Comparative Law
assisted by:
Carmine Conte: DPhil Law student
Jesse Wall: DPhil Law student
Also working in this field, but not involved in its teaching programme:
Tatiana Cutts: DPhil Law student
Jodi Gardner: MPhil Law student
Donald Harris: Retired. Formerly Director of the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies at Balliol
Geneviève Helleringer: Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellow
Dori Kimel: Reader in Legal Philosophy
Andelka Phillips: DPhil Law student
Dan Prentice: Emeritus Professor of Corporate Law
Francis Reynolds: Emeritus Professor of Law at Worcester College
Jan Peter Schmidt: Max Planck Fellow
Guenter Treitel: Emeritus Vinerian Professor of English Law at All Souls
Rafal Zakrzewski: Career Development Fellow
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Restitution
Publications
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Showing 5 of the most recent publications
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Show All 25 | Selected publications
R Williams, 'A Hybrid Public and Private Approach' in Birke Haecker, Charles Mitchell, Steven Elliott (eds), Restitution of Overpaid Taxes ( 2012) (forthcoming) [...]
Continues the argument developed in 'Unjust Enrichment and Public law' in the light of the decision of the Supreme Court in FII. Argues that in Deutsche Morgan Grenfell the House of Lords took a wrong turning on the law of unjust enrichment in a public law context, a decision which has led to unnecessary and avoidable litigation, as evidenced by FII. Suggests that such litigation could in future be avoided by reversing the Deutsche Morgan Grenfell decision and adopting the hybrid public and private approach to cases of unjust enrichment involving public bodies.
A S Burrows, 'Absence of Basis: the New Birksian Scheme' in Andrew Burrows and Alan Rodger (eds), Mapping the Law: Essays in Memory of Peter Birks (OUP 2006) [...]
Essay analysing the advantages and disadvantages of Birks' new approach to the unjust question in unjust enrichment.
ISBN: 0-19-920655-4
A S Burrows, Ewan McKendrick and James Edelman, Cases and Materials on the Law of Restitution, 2nd edition (OUP 2007)
R Williams and R Shiers, 'FII GLO (Chancery) and F J Chalke; tax and restitution developing hand-in-hand' [2009] British Tax Review 365 [Case Note] [...]
The authors examine the recent domestic decisions in the FII Group Litigation Order and F J Chalke, and demonstrate the significance of these taxation cases for the future development of the law of unjust enrichment. They consider in particular the impact of European case law in this area.
T Krebs, 'In defence of unjust factors' in Johnston and Zimmermann (eds), Unjustified Enrichment - Key Issues in Comparative Perspective (Cambridge University Press 2002) [...]
Comparative essay rejecting suggestions that English law should adopt the German 'lack of legal cause' approach to enrichment liability.
ISBN: 521808200
Courses
The courses we offer in this field are:
Postgraduate
BCL
Our taught postgraduate programme, designed to serve outstanding law students from common-law backgrounds
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Restitution of Unjust Enrichment
Restitution of Unjust Enrichment is concerned with about how and when a claimant can compel a defendant to surrender an enrichment gained at the claimant’s expense. Long neglected, the subject has in recent years been one of the most exciting in the postgraduate curriculum. It draws its cases from areas of the law which have resisted rational analysis, largely because they have tenaciously preserved the language of an earlier age.
Common lawyers found themselves unable to escape from money had and received, money paid, and quantum meruit, while those on the chancery side became defensively fond of the unsolved mysteries of tracing and trusts arising by operation of law. In the result, down to earth questions about getting back money and value in other forms have been made to seem much more difficult than they need be. The aim of any course on restitution must be to try to understand what has really been going on and to play back that understanding to the courts in accessible modern language. These aims are helped by keeping an eye on the main lines of civilian solutions to the problems with which the common law has to wrestle.
Note that this course is concerned only with restitution of unjust enrichment. Restitution for wrongs is not part of the course and is dealt with in the Commercial remedies course.
Teaching is through twelve seminars. The seminars are supported by two introductory lectures and by the provision of four tutorials. A detailed account of the course is produced every year in and posted on this site. The subject of every seminar is set out, with a list of cases and other materials to be read, together with questions and problems intended to stimulate thought.
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MJur
Our taught postgraduate programme, designed to serve outstanding law students from civil law backgrounds.
[less]
Restitution of Unjust Enrichment
Restitution of Unjust Enrichment is concerned with about how and when a claimant can compel a defendant to surrender an enrichment gained at the claimant’s expense. Long neglected, the subject has in recent years been one of the most exciting in the postgraduate curriculum. It draws its cases from areas of the law which have resisted rational analysis, largely because they have tenaciously preserved the language of an earlier age.
Common lawyers found themselves unable to escape from money had and received, money paid, and quantum meruit, while those on the chancery side became defensively fond of the unsolved mysteries of tracing and trusts arising by operation of law. In the result, down to earth questions about getting back money and value in other forms have been made to seem much more difficult than they need be. The aim of any course on restitution must be to try to understand what has really been going on and to play back that understanding to the courts in accessible modern language. These aims are helped by keeping an eye on the main lines of civilian solutions to the problems with which the common law has to wrestle.
Note that this course is concerned only with restitution of unjust enrichment. Restitution for wrongs is not part of the course and is dealt with in the Commercial remedies course.
Teaching is through twelve seminars. The seminars are supported by two introductory lectures and by the provision of four tutorials. A detailed account of the course is produced every year in and posted on this site. The subject of every seminar is set out, with a list of cases and other materials to be read, together with questions and problems intended to stimulate thought.
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People
Restitution teaching is organized by a Subject Group convened by:
William Swadling: Reader in Property Law
in conjunction with:
Andrew Burrows, QC: Professor of the Law of England
Mindy Chen-Wishart: Reader in Contract Law
Ewan McKendrick: Registrar
Edwin Peel: Professor of Law
Robert Stevens: Herbert Smith Freehills Professor of English Private Law
Simon Whittaker: Professor of European Comparative Law
Also working in this field, but not involved in its teaching programme:
Tatiana Cutts: DPhil Law student
Derek Davies: Retired. Formerly Fellow and Tutor in Law at St Catherine's
Jodi Gardner: MPhil Law student
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Tort
News
Professor Jane Stapleton wins the William L. Prosser Award
Professor Jane Stapleton has been awarded the prestigious William L. Prosser Award by the Association of American Law Schools [more…]
Publications
Showing five recent publications sorted by title [change this]
Showing 5 of the most recent publications
Change to sort them by year | name | type OR
Show All 78 | Selected publications
E Descheemaeker, ''Veritas non est defamatio'? Truth as a Defence in the Law of Defamation' (2011) Legal Studies 1 [...]
DOI: 10.1111/j.1748-121X.2010.00191.x
Despite the limited exception introduced by statute in 1974, the principle that truth is and ought to be a complete defence to all actions in defamation is typically regarded as self-evident in modern English law. The fact that England stands here against not only the whole of the civilian tradition but also a number of common-law jurisdictions suggests, however, that it is not. This article, after surveying the history of the principle in English law and the debates that it has spurred in the past, argues that English law is right on this question, but needs to understand more cogently why. This, in turn, requires an examination of the interests protected by the cause of action. It is only if we accept that it is, and is solely, reputation founded in character that the defence of veritas will be secured.
ISBN: 1748121X
E Descheemaeker, ''A man of bad character has not so much to lose’: Truth as a Defence in the South African Law of Defamation' (2011) 128 South African Law Journal 452 [...]
This paper examines, from a historical and comparative perspective, the role of truth in the South African law of defamation. In order to understand to what extent the law of South Africa might represent a mixture of civilian and common-law thinking, it first sets out the viewpoint of, on the one hand, Roman and Roman-Dutch law and, on the other hand, English law. Against this background, the dominant position of South African law appears avowedly civilian, a stand explained by the fact that the South African law of defamation really is a law of verbal insults, as in Rome, rather than a law of injuries to deserved reputation, as in England. However, an interesting dissident strand in favour of the sufficiency of truth can be seen to exist in the background, which is explored. This dissenting strand is certainly English in substance, but this does not entail that it has English roots.
D P Nolan, 'Alcock v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police (1991)' in Charles Mitchell and Paul Mitchell (eds), Landmark Cases in the Law of Tort (Hart Publishing 2010)
D P Nolan, 'Causation and the Goals of Tort Law' in Andrew Robertson and Tang Hang Wu (eds), The Goals of Private Law (Hart Publishing 2009)
R M Bagshaw, 'Causing the Behaviour of Others and Other Causal Mixtures' in Richard Goldberg (ed), Perspectives on Causation (Hart Publishing 2011) [...]
This chapter investigates the concept of ‘cause’ which ought to be used by tort lawyers when making claims such as that Derek’s wrongful behaviour ‘caused’ Trevor to act in some way, in particular in circumstances where we regard Trevor’s action as ‘voluntary’ rather than ‘coerced’. The central issue is whether a tort lawyer’s inquiry into whether Derek’s wrongful behaviour ‘caused’ Trevor to act in some way ought to be the same as an inquiry into whether Derek’s wrongful behaviour ‘caused’ the kettle to boil or the toaster to burn the toast.
ISBN: 9781849460866
Courses
The courses we offer in this field are:
Undergraduate
FHS (Phase II)
The degree is awarded on the basis of nine final examinations at the end of the three-year course (or four years in the case of Law with Law Studies in Europe) and (for students who began the course in October 2011 or later) an essay in Jurisprudence written over the summer vacation at the end of the second year. Note: the Jurisprudence exam at the end of the third year is correspondingly shorter. This phase of the Final Honour School includes the third term of the first year, and all three terms of the second year.
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Tort is one of the compulsory standard subjects within the Final Honour School syllabus. It also covers material in the “foundations of legal knowledge” and so must be taken by those seeking a professional qualification in England and Wales. The law of tort is mainly concerned with providing compensation for personal injury and damage to property, but also protects other interests, such as reputation, personal freedom, title to property, enjoyment of property, and commercial interests.The subject is taught in tutorials arranged by your college tutor. Lectures in Michaelmas and Trinity terms cover most, but not all, of the topics on the agreed reading list. Revision lectures on contract and tort take place in Hilary term.
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Diploma in Legal Studies
A one-year sample of courses from our BA programmes, aimed only at students visiting from our partner universities.
[less]
Tort is one of the compulsory standard subjects within the Final Honour School syllabus. It also covers material in the “foundations of legal knowledge” and so must be taken by those seeking a professional qualification in England and Wales. The law of tort is mainly concerned with providing compensation for personal injury and damage to property, but also protects other interests, such as reputation, personal freedom, title to property, enjoyment of property, and commercial interests.The subject is taught in tutorials arranged by your college tutor. Lectures in Michaelmas and Trinity terms cover most, but not all, of the topics on the agreed reading list. Revision lectures on contract and tort take place in Hilary term.
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Postgraduate
MJur
Our taught postgraduate programme, designed to serve outstanding law students from civil law backgrounds.
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Tort (also part of the BA course)
Tort is one of the compulsory standard subjects within the Final Honour School syllabus. It also covers material in the “foundations of legal knowledge” and so must be taken by those seeking a professional qualification in England and Wales. The law of tort is mainly concerned with providing compensation for personal injury and damage to property, but also protects other interests, such as reputation, personal freedom, title to property, enjoyment of property, and commercial interests.The subject is taught in tutorials arranged by your college tutor. Lectures in Michaelmas and Trinity terms cover most, but not all, of the topics on the agreed reading list. Revision lectures on contract and tort take place in Hilary term.
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People
Tort teaching is organized by a Subject Group convened by:
James Goudkamp: University Lecturer (CUF)
in conjunction with:
Roderick Bagshaw: CUF Lecturer
Andrew Burrows, QC: Professor of the Law of England
John Cartwright: Professor of the Law of Contract
Andrew Dyson: College Lecturer and Tutor in Law
Lucinda Ferguson: University Lecturer in Family Law
Rob George: British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow
Imogen Goold: CUF Lecturer
Noam Gur: Shaw Foundation Fellow in Law, Lincoln College
Andrew Higgins: Lecturer in Civil Procedure
Laura Hoyano: Hackney Fellow & Tutor in Law and CUF Lecturer
Thomas Krebs: University Lecturer in Commercial Law
Dorota Leczykiewicz: Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellow
Mike Macnair: CUF Lecturer
Donal Nolan: CUF Lecturer
Edwin Peel: Professor of Law
Denise Réaume: Visiting Professor
Roger Smith: CUF Lecturer
Rachel Taylor: Lecturer
Simon Whittaker: Professor of European Comparative Law
Also working in this field, but not involved in its teaching programme:
Paul Craig: Professor of English Law
John Davies: Retired. Formerly Fellow and Tutor in Law at Brasenose
Eric Descheemaeker: Research Fellow, Institute of European and Comparative Law
Simon Douglas: CUF Lecturer
Jodi Gardner: MPhil Law student
Sarah Green: CUF Lecturer
Donald Harris: Retired. Formerly Director of the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies at Balliol
Angus Johnston: CUF Lecturer
Martin Matthews: Retired. Formerly CUF Lecturer
Peter North: Retired. Formerly Principal of Jesus
Gosia Pearson: Policy Officer, DG Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection of the European Commission
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