.............................................................................................................................
Description
Cheshire, Fifoot & Furmston's Law of Contract stands as one of the classic textbooks on contract law more than 50 years after the publication of the first edition.
Michael Furmston combines an authoritative account of the principles of the law of contract with thought-provoking analysis and insights, and the clarity of the narrative brings understanding of complex contractual issues to a wider readership.
Each topic is clearly signposted for ease of navigation, and the text contains numerous references to additional primary and secondary sources to take the reader even further into the subject.
This text is invaluable to students reading courses in contract, the law of obligations, and common law. It is also of real use to students of other disciplines needing a clear overview of the law of contract, and is often used as a first point of reference for practitioners.
.............................................................................................................................
Contents
1. Historical Introduction
The mediaeval law
The origin of assumpsit
Assumpsit and debt
The doctrine of consideration
The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries
The nineteenth century
Implied terms
2. Some Factors Affecting Modern Contract Law
Continental influence in the nineteenth century
Influence of economic theory
Inequality of bargaining power
The use of standard form contracts
Consumer protection
The relationship between standard form contracts, inequality of
bargaining power and consumer protection
Contractual behaviour
A law of contract or contracts?
The interrelationship of contract and tort
Good faith in contract law
The globalisation of contract law
Human Rights Act 1998
3. The Phenomena of Agreement Introduction
Offer and acceptance: offer Offer and acceptance: acceptance
Termination of offer
Constructing a contract
Inchoate contracts
Long-term relationships
4. Consideration
Function and definition
Consideration - executory, executed and past
Consideration must move from the promisee
Sufficiency of consideration
5. Intention to Create Legal Relations
Domestic agreements
Commercial agreements
6. The Contents Of The Contract
Express terms
Implied terms
The relative importance of contractual terms
Excluding and limiting terms
Statutory provisions: Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977
The Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999
7. Unenforceable Contracts
History and policy of the Statute of Frauds
Statute of Frauds, section 4, and Law of Property Act 1925, section 40
Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989, section 2
Other rules about form
Writing, signature and electronic commerce
8. Mistake
Introduction
The two categories of cases
Documents mistakenly signed
9. Misrepresentation, Duress and Undue Influence
Misrepresentation
Duress and undue influence
10. Contracts Rendered Void by Statute
Wagering contracts
Agreements prohibited by competition law
11. Contracts Illegal by Statute or at Common Law
Contracts prohibited by statute
Contracts illegal at common law on grounds of public policy
The consequence of illegality
Proof of illegality
Reform
12. Contracts Void at Common Law on Grounds of Public Policy
The contracts described
The legal consequences
13. Capacity of Parties
Minors
Corporations
Persons mentally disordered, and drunkards
14. Privity of Contract
The doctrine of privity of contract
Qualifications to doctrine
Enforcement by promisee
The Contract (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999
Attempts to impose liabilities upon strangers
15. Privity of Contract Under the Law of Agency
The place of agency in English law
Formation of agency
Position of principal and agency with regard to third parties
Unauthorised acts of the agent
Termination of agency
16. The Voluntary Assignment of Contractual Rights and Liabilities
The assignment of contractual rights
The assignment of contractual liabilities
17. The Involuntary Assignment of Contractual Rights and Liabilities
18. Performance and Breach
Introduction
The order of performance
Excuses for non-performance
Can a party who does not perform perfectly claim payment or
performance from the other party?
Can an innocent party who has paid in advance recover his payment
in the event of a failure of perfect performance?
Can the innocent party terminate the contract?
What is the effect of a repudiation or a fundamental breach?
The effect of discharging the contract for a bad reason, when a
good reason also exists
Some possible special cases
Contractual provisions for termination
Stipulations as to time
Tender of performance
19. Discharge by Agreement
Bilateral discharge
Unilateral discharge
20. Discharge Under the Doctrine of Frustration
Nature and rationale of the doctrine
Operation of the doctrine
Effect of the doctrine
21. Remedies for Breach of Contract
Introduction
Damages
Specific performance
Extinction of remedies
.............................................................................................................................
Author Details
Michael Furmston (M.P. Furmston) is Emeritus Professor and Senior Research Fellow at the University of Bristol. He is also a Bencher of Gray's Inn, and was previously a Fellow of Lincoln College at the University of Oxford
............................................................................................................................. |
