Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Comparative Constitutional Contract Law: A Question of Legal Culture

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
More Constitutional Dimensions of Contract Law

  • 417 Accesses

Abstract

This introductory chapter sets out the book’s purpose and outlines the contributions which compose it. It connects the constitutionalisation of Contract law theme to questions of legal culture, thereby showing why this increasingly relevant topic in the theory and practice of Contract law ought to be approached contextually. In so doing, it further links this book’s content to the first volume of this two-book set: The Constitutional Dimension of Contract Law. A Comparative Perspective (published by Springer in 2017).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 119.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. 1.

    Siliquini-Cinelli and Hutchison (2016).

  2. 2.

    Siliquini-Cinelli and Hutchison (2017).

  3. 3.

    Critically, see Bix (2017).

  4. 4.

    Gordley (1991), p. 1.

  5. 5.

    Recently, see Michelon (2018). Cf. Weinrib (2012).

  6. 6.

    Shaffer (2017), p. 1. More broadly, see Thornhill (2012), p. 411: “The formation of a distinct transnational legal apparatus can in fact in many cases be interpreted as a structural precondition of stable national state institutions.” (Emphasis in original).

  7. 7.

    Febbrajo and Corsi (2016), p. 1.

  8. 8.

    Somek (2014), p. 98.

  9. 9.

    Corsi (2016), p. 14.

  10. 10.

    Teubner (2006), pp. 51–53.

  11. 11.

    A statement we make with the due caution given some important, if not drastic, changes which have occurred in some jurisdictions, such as in the United Kingdom, over the past few years. Cf., for instance, Patel v Mirza [2016] UKSC 42.

  12. 12.

    Among others, see Macneil (1978, 1987); Fried (1981); Adams and Brownsword (1987); Drahos and Parker (1990); Collins (1999); Goldwasser and Ciro (2002); Campbell et al. (2003); Mulcahy (2005); Kovač (2011); Hogg (2011); Seddon et al. (2012), ch 28; Mitchell (2013); Keyes and Wilson (2014); Katz (2014); Brownsword et al. (2017). All of this has led Morgan (2013), p. 89, to call for a minimalist approach to contract law which, among other things, “[does not] serve any “external” goals of regulatory policy (i.e. other than providing a framework for commercial contracts) – such as the promotion of social justice and European solidarity. Nor should contract law concern itself with distributive justice or regulation of fairness.”

  13. 13.

    Such as those regarding the approach to, and use of, good faith, which has always been a cornerstone of Civil law systems.

  14. 14.

    Hadfield (2017), p. 2.

  15. 15.

    Hadfield (2017), p. 3.

  16. 16.

    Hadfield (2017), p. 20.

  17. 17.

    This also explains the difference in writing and argumentative styles which characterises the essays presented here.

  18. 18.

    Klare (1998), pp. 166–167 (footnotes omitted).

  19. 19.

    Among others, see Kahn-Freund (1974); Friedman (1997); Watson (1993); Nelken (1995, 1997); Legrand (1997, 2003 2017); Nelken and Feest (2001); Husa (2015).

  20. 20.

    An interesting description of a comparative legal cultures methodological approach can be found in Steinmetz (2000).

  21. 21.

    Key arguments here are made by: Wa Mutua (1995); Ibhawoh (2000); Nussbaum (2000). In Comparative law literature, see Samuel (2014), p. 130.

  22. 22.

    For a preliminary analysis along these lines, but in a South African context, see Hutchison (2017).

  23. 23.

    Merry (1996), p. 68.

References

  • Adams JN, Brownsword R (1987) The ideologies of contract. Leg Stud 7(2):205–223

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bix BH (2017) The promise and problems of universal, general theories of contract law. Ratio Juris 30(4):391–402

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brownsword R, van Gestel RAJ, Micklitz H-W (eds) (2017) Contract and regulation: a handbook on new methods of law making in private law. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham

    Google Scholar 

  • Campbell D, Collins H, Wightman J (eds) (2003) Implicit dimensions of contract. Discrete, relational and network contracts. Hart, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Collins H (1999) Regulating contracts. OUP, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Corsi G (2016) On paradoxes in constitutions. In: Febbrajo A, Corsi G (eds) Sociology of constitutions. A paradoxical perspective. Routledge, London, pp 11–28

    Google Scholar 

  • Drahos P, Parker S (1990) Critical contract law in Australia. J Contract Law 3(1):30–49

    Google Scholar 

  • Febbrajo A, Corsi G (2016) Introduction. In: Febbrajo A, Corsi G (eds) Sociology of constitutions. A paradoxical perspective. Routledge, London, pp 1–7

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Fried C (1981) Contract as promise: a theory of contractual obligation. Harvard University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Friedman LM (1997) Law and society: an introduction. Englewood Cliffs, Prentice-Hall

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldwasser V, Ciro T (2002) Standards of behaviour in commercial contracting. Aust Bus Law Rev 30(5):369–394

    Google Scholar 

  • Gordley J (1991) The philosophical foundations of modern contract doctrine. OUP, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Hadfield GK (2017) Rules for a flat world. Why humans invented law and how to reinvent it for a complex global economy. OUP, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Hogg M (2011) Promises and contract law. Comparative perspectives. CUP, Cambridge

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Husa J (2015) A new introduction to comparative law. Hart, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Hutchison A (2017) Decolonising South African contract law: an argument for synthesis. In: Siliquini-Cinelli L, Hutchison A (eds) The constitutional dimension of contract law. A comparative perspective. Springer, Dordrecht, pp 151–184

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Ibhawoh B (2000) Between culture and constitution: evaluating the cultural legitimacy of human rights in the African state. Hum Rights Q 22(3):838–860

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kahn-Freund O (1974) On the uses and misuses of comparative law. Mod Law Rev 37(1):1–27

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Katz AW (2014) Economic foundations of contract law. In: Klass G, Letsas G, Saprai P (eds) Philosophical foundations of contract law. OUP, Oxford, pp 171–192

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Keyes M, Wilson T (eds) (2014) Codifying contract law. International and consumer law perspectives. Routledge, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Klare KE (1998) Legal culture and transformative constitutionalism. S Afr J Hum Rights 14(1):146–188

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kovač M (2011) Comparative contract law and economics. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Legrand P (1997) The impossibility of ‘legal transplants’. Maastricht J Eur Comp Law 4:111–124

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Legrand P (2003) The same and the different. In: Legrand P, Munday R (eds) Comparative legal studies: traditions and transitions. CUP, Cambridge, pp 240–311

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Legrand P (2017) Jameses at play. Am J Comp Law 65(1):1–132

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Macneil IR (1978) Contracts: adjustment of long-term economic relations under classical, neoclassical, and relational contract law. Northwest Univ Law Rev 72:854–905

    Google Scholar 

  • Macneil IR (1987) Relational contract theory as sociology: a reply to professors Lindenberg and de Vos. J Inst Theor Econ 143(2):272–290

    Google Scholar 

  • Merry SE (1996) Legal vernacularization and Ka Ho’okolokolonui Kanala Maoli, the people’s international tribunal, Hawai’i 1993. Polit Leg Anthropol Rev 19:67–82

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Michelon C (2018) What has private law ever done for justice? Edinburgh Law Rev 22(3):329–346

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell C (2013) Contract law and contract practice: bridging the gap between legal reasoning and commercial expectation. Hart, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Morgan J (2013) Contract law minimalism: a formalist restatement of commercial contract law. CUP, Cambridge

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Mulcahy L (2005) The limitations of love and altruism – feminist perspectives on contract law. In: Mulcahy L, Wheeler S (eds) Feminist perspectives on contract law. Glasshouse Press, London, pp 1–20

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Nelken D (1995) Disclosing/invoking legal culture: an introduction. Soc Leg Stud 4(4):435–452

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nelken D (ed) (1997) Comparing legal cultures. Routledge, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Nelken D, Feest J (eds) (2001) Adapting legal cultures. Hart, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Nussbaum M (2000) Women and human development. CUP, New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Samuel G (2014) An introduction to comparative law theory and method. Hart, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Seddon N, Bigwood R, Ellinghaus M (2012) Chesire & Fifoot law of contract, 10th Australia edn. Butterworths LexisNexis, Chatswood

    Google Scholar 

  • Shaffer GC (2017) Introduction: transnational elements of constitution-making. UC Irvine J Int Transnational Comp Law 2(1):1–4

    Google Scholar 

  • Siliquini-Cinelli L, Hutchison A (2016) Constitutionalism, good faith and the doctrine of specific performance: rights, duties and equitable discretion. S Afr Law J 133(1):73–101

    Google Scholar 

  • Siliquini-Cinelli L, Hutchison A (eds) (2017) The constitutional dimension of contract law. A comparative perspective. Springer, Dordrecht

    Google Scholar 

  • Somek A (2014) The cosmopolitan constitution. In: Maduro M, Tuori K, Sankari S (eds) Transnational law. Rethinking European law and legal thinking. CUP, Cambridge, pp 97–121

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Steinmetz W (2000) Introduction: towards a comparative history of legal cultures, 1759–1950. In: Steinmetz W (ed) Private law and social inequality in the industrial age: comparing legal cultures in Britain, France, Germany and the United States. OUP, Oxford, pp 1–41

    Google Scholar 

  • Teubner G (2006) In the blind spot: the hybridization of contracting. Theor Inquiries in Law 8(1):51–71

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thornhill C (2012) National sovereignty and the constitution of transnational law: a sociological approach to a classical antinomy. Transnational Leg Theory 3(4):394–460

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wa Mutua M (1995) The Banjul Charter and the African cultural fingerprint: an evaluation of the language of duties. Virginia J Int Law 35:339–380

    Google Scholar 

  • Watson A (1993) Legal transplants: an approach to comparative law, 2nd edn. The University of Georgia Press, Athens

    Google Scholar 

  • Weinrib EJ (2012) The idea of private law, 2nd edn. OUP, Oxford

    Book  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Law, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK

    Luca Siliquini-Cinelli

  2. Department of Commercial Law, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa

    Andrew Hutchison

Authors
  1. Luca Siliquini-Cinelli
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Andrew Hutchison
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Luca Siliquini-Cinelli .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Law, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK

    Luca Siliquini-Cinelli

  2. Faculty of Law, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa

    Andrew Hutchison

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Siliquini-Cinelli, L., Hutchison, A. (2019). Comparative Constitutional Contract Law: A Question of Legal Culture. In: Siliquini-Cinelli, L., Hutchison, A. (eds) More Constitutional Dimensions of Contract Law. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15107-2_1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15107-2_1

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-15106-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-15107-2

  • eBook Packages: Law and CriminologyLaw and Criminology (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation