English contract law provides the invisible framework that underpins and enables much contracting activity in society, yet the role of the law in policing many of our contracts now approaches vanishing point. The methods by which contracts come into existence, and notionally create binding obligations, have transformed over the past forty years. Consumers now enter into contracts through remote and automated processes on standard terms over which they have little control. This book explores the substantive weakening of the institution of contract law in a society heavily dependent on contracts. It considers significant areas of contracting activity that affect many people, but that escape serious and sustained legal scrutiny. An accessibly written and succinct account of contract law's past, present and future, it assesses the implications of a diminished contract law, and the possibilities, if any, for its revival.

Examines how, despite its past significance and influence, English contract law now faces functional and moral redundancy.

About the Author
Catherine Mitchell is a Reader in Private Law at the University of Birmingham. She has published widely on contract, and has been cited by the House of Lords, the Singapore Court of Appeal and by the Law Commissions of England and Scotland.


Book Information
ISBN 9781316514139
Author Catherine Mitchell
Format Hardback
Page Count 250
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 520g
Dimensions(mm) 235mm * 158mm * 19mm