This resource describes and analyses the law of contract interpretation in the United States, offering a strong guide for legal practitioners, judges, and scholars involved in contract law.
This book discusses how UNIDROIT principles are viewed and interpreted in different countries, presenting various perspectives and practical lessons learned. It also offers a detailed analysis of the use of the UNIDROIT principles to interpret and supplement domestic contract law. Written by experts in the field, it provides insights into how the principles are being used and applied in their respective countries. The findings are also summarized in a General Report that was presented at the 20th IACL General Congress in Fukuoka, Japan.
"As the book clearly explains, there are situations in which questions of contract law need to be examined by investment tribunals - mainly as preliminary or incidental questions, to determine issues such as contract liability or breach of contract, that in turn are assumed as a basis for the issues of investment law in dispute"--
The 5th edition provides thorough treatment of one of the most fundamental areas of law - the interpretation of contracts. All those drafting, revising or advising on written agreements will benefit from its detailed discussion of the rules of contract interpretation.
In this volume Mitchell examines case law, academic debate and the resurgence of interest in formalist contract interpretation in the US to explore the meaning of contextual interpretation, arguments for and against it and suggestions on how parties may influence the interpretation methods applied to their agreement. Identifying controversial issues, arguments and analyzing possible future developments, this book addresses a range of questions, including: How far should it be possible for courts, through the process of interpretation, to control the bargain made between parties? Are judges applying the principles of interpretation in the same way? What is the relevant context of an agreement? Should contracting parties be able to opt out of a particular interpretative approach by use of mechanisms such as entire agreement clauses? Short and concise, this is a useful reference tool for those interested in contract and tort law.
Lawyers involved in international commercial transactions know well that unforeseen events affecting the performance of a party often arise. Not surprisingly, exemptions for non-performance are dealt with in a significant number of arbitral awards. This very useful book thoroughly analyzes contemporary approaches, particularly as manifested in case law, to the scope and content of the principles of exemption for non-performance which are commonly referred to as 'force majeure' and 'hardship.' The author shows that the 'general principles of law' approach addresses this concern most effectively. Generally accepted and understood by the business world at large, this approach encompasses principles of international commercial contracts derived from a variety of legal systems. It's most important 'restatements' are found in the 1980 United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) and the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts (UPICC). Establishing specific standards and "case groups" for the exemptions under review, the analysis treats such recurring elements as the following: contractual risk allocations; unforeseeability of an impediment; impediments beyond the typical sphere of risk and control of the obligor; responsibility for third parties (subcontractors, suppliers); legal impediments (acts of public authority) and effect of mandatory rules; involvement of states or state enterprises; interpretation of force majeure and hardship clauses; hardship threshold test; frustration of purpose; irreconcilable differences; comparison with exemptions under domestic legal systems (impossibility of performance, frustration of contract, impracticability) The book is a major contribution to the development of the use of general principles of law in international commercial arbitration. It may be used as a comprehensive commentary on the force majeure and hardship provisions of the UPICC, as well as on Art. 79 of the CISG. In addition, as an insightful investigation into the fundamental question of the limits of the principle of sanctity of contracts, this book is sure to capture the attention of business lawyers and interested academics everywhere.
What happens when contracting parties do not expressly provide for a particular situation in their agreement? Is intervention by the courts or legislature to fill gaps in contracts justified? How should those gaps be filled? This book is unique in the way it combines comparative and theoretical perspectives to provide answers to these questions. From a comparative law perspective, relatively little attention has been given to the different interpretative and gap filling techniques available in different legal systems. A comparison of the approach to contract interpretation and gap filling in England, Germany and the Netherlands is therefore provided in this book. Comparative observations are also made in light of the CISG, PECL and the Unidroit Principles for International Commercial Contracts. This book also contains a theoretical component that draws insights and inspiration from autonomy-based theories of contract, law and economics, notions of fairness and socio-legal perspectives to establish why contracting parties leave gaps in their contracts, whether intervention is justified and, if so, how gaps in contracts should be filled. The final part of this book builds on the comparative and theoretical perspectives to develop an interpretative and gap filling strategy that combines responses from contracting parties, the contracting community, the legislature and the courts.