• Situating the Law of Contract in the English Legal System Categories of English Law Public Private Property Obligations Contract Tort Restitution • Public Law • Deals with the relationship between citizens and the State • Sets out the basic rules of societal living • Provides the consequences for breach of such rules • Example- Criminal Law, Constitutional Law • Example • Private Law • Concerned with disputes between private bodies, example individuals, companies The State provides the legal framework for settling the disputes, but, the parties • are private persons or entities • Note: a public body can be involved in a private dispute and private law will apply • Example • Example • Example • Example • Property Rights • Rights in rem • Rights attach to a 'thing' • . Example, ownership of a house attaches the owner to that house and rights emerge against any others to prevent interference in relation to that house Rights connect a person to the thing • Personal Obligations • Rights in personam • Deals with relationships between persons • Connects one person to another person • The connection is not to a thing, even though a thing might be the subject of the obligation created • Example, if I promise to sell you my house for £500, the house is the subject of the obligation, however, our rights rest in the obligation we have made to our persons • Contract • Part of the law of Obligations • Voluntarily created and assumed • Can create obligations for future performance • Standards of performance is usually in accordance with the terms of the contract
• Remedies are aimed at putting the claimant in a position he/she would have been in if the contract was performed satisfactorily • Tort • Obligations created by law • Involuntarily assumed duties • Aim is to prevent wrongs • Imposes standards of behaviour • Remedies are aimed at putting the claimant in the position he/she would have been in had the tort not occurred • Robinson v PE Jones (Contractors) Ltd [2011] 1 AC 534 Per Jackson LJ Contractual obligations are negotiated by the parties and then enforced by law because the performance of contracts is vital to the functioning of society. Tortious duties are imposed by law (without any need for agreement by the parties) because society demands certain standards of conduct. • Overlap between Contract and Tort • Restitution/Unjust Enrichment • Possibly a 3rd arm of the law of obligations • Obligations are imposed as a result of unjust enrichment • Aim is to prevent or remedy unjust enrichment • Arises where a defendant is enriched unjustly at the expense of the claimant and there is no legal defence Example . . Example • Have You Signed the Register? See you all in 2 weeks!