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Mistakes in Contract Law

Mistakes in Contract Law

Author: Catharine MacMillan
Publisher: Hart Publishing
ISBN: 9781841135076
Published In: January 2010
Format: Hardback , 348 pages
Jurisdiction: U.K. ? Disclaimer:
Countri(es) stated herein are used as reference only

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It is a matter of some difficulty for the English lawyer to predict the effect of a misapprehension upon the formation of a contract. The common law doctrine of mistake is a confused one, with contradictory theoretical underpinnings and seemingly irreconcilable cases.

This book explains the common law doctrine through an examination of the historical development of the doctrine in English law. Beginning with an overview of contractual mistake in Roman law, the book examines how theories of mistake were received at various points into English contract law from Roman and civil law sources.

These transplants, made for pragmatic rather than principled reasons, combined in an uneasy manner with the pre-existing English contract law. Through its historical examination of mistake in contract law, the book provides not only insights into the nature of innovation and continuity within the common law but also the fate of legal transplants.

Catharine MacMillan is a Senior Lecturer in Law at Queen Mary University of London.

MacMillan has produced a stimulating and, at times refreshing account of mistake [which] will be of interest to any modern lawyers and law students curious to know what caused all the confusion in the first place.
Warren Swain
The Edinburgh Law Review
Volume 15, Issue 2, May 2011

...a fascinating insight into the background of current difficulties for anyone interested in contract law.
Duncan Sheehan
Restitution Law Review
June 2010

...clearly of value for those interested in contract and commercial law, but it also provides much to think about for those who are interested in the history and development of the law in general, and the interactions between different legal systems specifically.
Dr Sean Thomas
The Journal of Business Law
Issue 7, 2010

The author has ... meticulously researched each of the principal judicial pronouncements that has assisted in the development and understanding of the doctrine of mistake...a useful historical analysis.
Anthony Lo Surdo
Australian Banking and Finance Law Bulletin
Volume 26, Number 5

...this is a legal history book. It will clearly be of interest to legal historians and to academics who want to know how the law developed to its current state.
David Capper
Canadian Business Law Journal
Volume 49

...there can be no denying that [MacMillan] has produced a very worthwhile and thorough book. It is impressively wide-ranging, carefully researched, and brings to light previously overlooked evidence about the development of mistake in the English law of contract. As a result of it, our understanding of this difficult doctrine has taken a big step forward.
Paul Mitchell
The Journal of Legal History
32: 1