Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-19T10:07:08.878Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

5 - Contracts through the Gaps

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 August 2022

Catherine Mitchell
Affiliation:
University of Birmingham
Get access

Summary

This chapter considers the disadvantages arising from the reduced capacity of the common law to serve as a general regulator of contracts. Four areas of ordinary (non-commercial) contracting activity are examined: consumer debt management, payday lending, student loans and non-disclosure agreements. Judicial engagement with these areas of contract has been minimal or non-existent. The examples show how little influence some common problems in consumer contracting, or other contracts involving inequality of bargaining power, have had on the development of contract law rules. The law’s lack of exposure to some common issues generated by its rules only serves to compound the hold that commercial contracting has over legal development. The dearth of legal engagement with these issues also closes off an important forum for the debate, development and communication of contract’s deeper normative values, including the general standards of conduct that are, or should be, inherent in contracting. This accelerates the process of common law impoverishment.

Type
Chapter
Information
Vanishing Contract Law
Common Law in the Age of Contracts
, pp. 115 - 145
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×