Simon Whittaker

This article considers why English lawyers have not generally been attracted by the notion of 'network contracts' to regulate complex economic relations.

This brief essay explains the problems encountered and solutions adopted in the transaction of a French civil law reform project, the Avant-projet de reforme du droit des obligations. The translation was undertaken jointly with John Cartwright

This essay explains the development of product liability in English law

This article (which is an updated version of a paper published in a group of conference papers in Spain in 2002) deals with the question whether a court can give a contractual party further time to perform a contractual obligation (looking at French and English law).

This short article contrasts the interpretative style of the ECJ with more traditional (and conceptual) styles of 'European private lawyers' and then illustrates this contrast by reference to the decision of the ECJ in EasyCar v OFT

This article compares the different treatment of a claimant's failure to mitigate his/her own harm in French and English law.

This article explains how an English lawyer would see the notion of a 'general clause' and then gives three types of examples of such a very broad legal norm from English law.

analyses the provisions of the Principles of European Contract law on the plurality of debtors (joint and several liability) from the point of view of English law and French law.

A brief article exploring how consumer protection relates to the distinction between public and private law (with reference to French and English law)

This article explores technical problems of the implementation of the Directive on consumer guarantees and also the tensions which its implementation will cause in English law arising from fundamental differences between assumptions as to the nature of contractual obligation and contractual performance found in English law and those found in the Directive, the latter reflecting the general civilian position in this respect.

This article looks at the varieties of formal requirements to be found in English law and how they are changing, in part owing to the impact of European legislation. It raises questions as to the relationship between requirements of form and of substance in this context.

This article looks at the English law governing non-performance and breach of contract in English law and draws comparisons with aspects of the French and Belgian law.

The European Commission’s Proposal for a Regulation on a Common European Sales Law (‘CESL’) seeks to create a European scheme of contract law available for parties to choose to govern cross-border contracts for the sale of goods, supply of ‘digital content,’ and for the supply of related services.This article explains the background to the Proposal, sketches out the purposes and scope of the CESL, and considers and criticises its legal framework (and in particular its relationship with private international law) and the key requirement of the parties’ agreement. In the author’s view, the CESL scheme remains an unconvincing basis for the achievement of its economic purposes and, as regards consumer contracts, puts too much reliance on the agreement of the consumer as a justification for the loss of their existing protection under EU private international law rules.

This article assesses the appropriateness of an 'optional instrument' in contract law foreseen by the European Commission

This article considers the scope, purposes and use of 'principle' by the contract law provisions of the Draft Common Frame of Reference

This translates the author's earlier work 'Precedent in English Law: A View from the Citadel' which explains the rules and some of the working out of the precedent by English judges to a non-common law readership.

The author explores some of the difficulties facing English lawyers in implementing EC directives in the area of 'contract law' and compares them with those facing lawyers in systems with codified laws.

This article considers the desirability of the development of sector-specific European standard contract terms and puts forward four main reasons why such a development should be given a cool reception.

This article compares the use in English and French law of two techniques for the control of the content of contracts: (i) the insertion of standard terms into contracts by law and (ii) the control of the fairness of agreed contract terms. It examines the relationship between these two and considers the different mixtures of public and private law which are revealed.

The article looks at issues relating to the harmonisation of contract law in the context of the decision of the HL in DGFT v First National Bank

Starting from an earlier article, this article compares judicial review of sub-ordinate legislation on the basis of public law principle and judicial review of the unfair contract terms of in consumer contracts. Similarities and differences in these two types of review are identified and their implication in the student context assessed.

This note assesses the decision of the UK Supreme Court in the 'Bank Charges' case in the light of the decision of the case-law of the ECJ