Module LAW3261: ADVANCED ISSUES IN CONTRACT

Department: Law

LAW3261: ADVANCED ISSUES IN CONTRACT

Prerequisites

• Legal Skills (LAW 1041), Tort (LAW 1051), Contract (LAW 1071), Land Law (LAW 2011)

Corequisites

• None

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None

Aims

• In a series of cases from Wrotham Park Estate Co Ltd v Parkside Homes Ltd (1974) to A-G v Blake (Jonathan Cape Ltd Third Party) (2001), the English law of remedies for breach of contract was subjected to intense scrutiny and, in terms of the formal law, revolutionary changes were envisaged. These changes turned on the difference between addressing remedies fundamentally to the compensation of the plaintiff or to the restitution of an unjust enrichment by a defendant in breach. The current position in the English law almost a decade after Blake is still highly controversial, and the controversy invites an opportunity to examine the strengths and weaknesses of Fuller and Perdue’s three interest analysis of the law, which remains the cornerstone of our understanding of remedies for breach of contract. In this course, the structure and function of the law of contract will be examined in the light of this controversy.

Content

• The Fuller and Perdue model of the interests typically recognised by contract and the nature of compensatory damages
• Quasi-contractual forms of restitution
• Innovation in restitution: Hypothetical release damages
• Innovation in restitution: Disgorgement
• Gain-based damages
• Efficient breach and the function of compensatory damages for breach of contract

Learning Outcomes

• After study of this course, a student should:
• understand the nature and purpose of compensatory remedies for breach of contract;
• understand the nature of the quasi-contractual restitutionary remedies;
• understand the arguments for an expansion of the availability of restitutionary remedies;
• be able to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the different approaches to remedies for breach of contract and to relate these to the law and economics and legal philosophy of contractual promising.

• Students should be able to:
• interpret and critically evaluate relevant domestic law, comparative law and theoretical approaches;
• identify key reasoning tools employed by domestic and foreign courts in resolving private law issues and be capable of applying these to new situations and legal provisions;
• appreciate how cultural, social and historical factors affect legal approaches to key private law issues

• Students should be able to:
• demonstrate an ability to understand and critically analyse a wide variety of complex issues, drawing on comparative and theoretical materials;
• develop expertise in conducting research into materials from a variety of national and international sources;
• describe accurately and comprehensibly the arguments and analysis of other commentators
• write in a clear and structured way and to put forward ideas in a scholarly manner
• demonstrate an ability to explore complex issues creatively in writing.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• The course will be taught through a series of twelve two-hour seminars. This format is calculated to encourage pre-session reading and preparation followed by in depth discussion. Each of six topics will be taught in two seminars, but all of the topics will be cross-referenced by the teaching team and themes will be developed. The assessment will be through a summatively assessed paper with a formatively assessed draft. The formative and summative papers, based on student choice of one of the topics taught, will ensure that students have met the research, analysis, and communication objectives.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University