Comparative Contract Law

elective courses
optional courses

Student who wishes to take this course should have strong knowledge of his/her national contract law. The good oral and written command of English is also necessary to pass it successfully.

Taking into account that this is an advanced course, the knowledge of national contract law is a prerequisite for attending this course.

Classroom

The course focuses on analyzing key concepts in contract law from the comparative perspective of the French, German and English laws. At the beginning of each class, the students will be introduced to definitions and concepts to be considered in depth during the class. This will be followed by a presentation of relevant national rules in order to allow for comparison of how different legal systems deal with the same issues. Against this background, the final part of each class will be devoted to discussing comparative advantageousness and effectiveness of the solutions analyzed. Participants are expected to contribute to the discussions.

The course is supposed to cover the following issues:

1. Introduction to the Course. An Overview of European Law & European Contract Law

2. Introduction to Contract Law: Terminology and Different Approaches

3. Contract Law Theory

4. Formation of Contract

5. Pre-contractual Duties and Negotiations

6. Defect of Consent

7. Incapacity, Illegality & Immorality of Contracts

8. Content of Contracts: Standard Terms, Unfair Clauses & Supplementation of Contracts

9. Interpretation (Construction) of Contracts

10. Supervening Events

11. Remedies for Breach of Contract: An Overview

Textbook:

Beale, H. G., et al., Contract Law, 2. ed. (London: Hart, 2019)

Recommended additional textbook:

Smits J., Contract Law. A Comparative Introduction, Elgar Publishing 2017

Additional readings may be assigned for particular classes

After finishing this course a student should be able to:

KNOWLEDGE

- define fundamental comparative law terms and contract law terms,

- present basic rules in force in Germany, France and England on contract law,

- identify key similarities and differences between contract law in civil law jurisdictions and contract law in common law jurisdictions,

- compare the process of unification of contract law in Europe with global and American attempts to unify different areas of private law,

- compare rules on contract law from PECL and DCFR with national contract law

- discuss perspectives of further unification of contract law in the EU;

SKILLS

- apply comparative law method in practice,

- analyze pieces of legislation on contract law coming from different jurisdictions

- evaluate the usefulness of PECL and DCFR for drafting and concluding international contracts

- draft contracts under French, German, and English laws

Assessment will be on the basis of an essay (70%), performance in the class (20%), and attendance (10%).

The essay must be on a relevant topic of each student‘s choice, subject to approval by the course instructors.

Length: the essays should be 10-15 pages in length (Times New Roman 12- point front; 1,5 line spacing, default margin settings).

Structure: the paper should consist of the following sections:

 Sec. 1: Identification of a research question

 Sec. 2: English law approach

 Sec. 3: French law approach

 Sec. 4: German law approach

 Sec. 5: A student’s national law approach

 Sec. 6: Comparison of the national approaches discussed and conclusions

Essays should be sent electronically (file formats: doc, docx, pdf) to osajda@wpia.uw.edu.pl

The following criteria will apply to the assessment of essays submitted: accuracy and comprehensiveness of identification of the research problem, accuracy and comprehensiveness of information on national laws given in sections 2-5, skill in application of the comparative method (structure, comprehensiveness and conclusiveness of comparative argument and conclusions) formal correctness (formatting, citing and proper style of footnotes).

Attendance:

Students may miss two classes of the course without notifying the course instructors.

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