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To understand common law contract doctrinal research methodology, one must first understand how contract doctrine came into existence and its enduring relevance. Historically, the common law was derived from judgments that focused upon proof of particularized facts and their fit to established writs. Contract doctrine emerged as a product of the Industrial Revolution's transformation of commercial and labor practices, the creation of new forms of property, and the new economic and social theories that shaped political discourse. In this chapter, the rise of common law contract doctrine is first described, and its enduring relevance to today's common law is articulated. This lays the foundation for an exploration into research methodology through three distinct examples: the incremental development by the Supreme Court of Canada of a doctrine of good faith performance in contract law; the interaction between legislature and courts in modifying contract doctrine concerning liability for innocent misrepresentations; and the place of party autonomy in correcting aberrant court decisions that are not in keeping with commercial realities. Through these examples, this chapter demonstrates how the common law navigates between the Scylla of certainty and the Charybdis of flexibility to keep common law contract doctrine relevant, but within what common law courts are constitutionally and legitimately able to do.
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Class actions have an established place in Canadian and Australian legal systems but still attract considerable debate in practice, politics and the academy. One debate concerns whether there is any legitimate justification for class actions beyond the procedural facilitation of grouped proceedings. ‘Access to justice’ and ‘judicial economy’ are the goals commonly said to justify class action provisions. On one view, these goals can be achieved through civil procedures that have compensation as their sole remedial goal. At the same time, many jurisdictions that have created class action regimes also provide as another justification, the promotion of behavioural modification and deterrence of wrongdoers. The principal way behaviour is modified and deterrence is achieved is by ensuring that the wrongdoer is forced to internalise all the costs of any harm that may have resulted from the wrongful act, and - depending on the particular facts of the case and whether the cause of action supports recovery of profits - to disgorge any profits earned from the wrongful conduct. Compensating victims may partially and concurrently achieve deterrence if all victims can be identified and the true nature of their loss quantified. However, in many claims where a class action may be the most advantageous mechanism to compensate victims, not all victims may be able to be identified or, because the amount of each class member’s claim is small, the cost of administering the claim may outweigh any benefit to individual class members.
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This article draws on an emerging body of empirical research that indicates that parties place a greater emphasis in some situations on actual rather than substitutionary performance. It examines the case law on the enforcement of keep open clauses in Canada, Australia and other common law jurisdictions to highlight the disconnect between doctrinal orthodoxy on the enforceability of such clauses and party remedial preferences. The article explores the constraints of supervision and enforcement and concludes there is scope for enhancing party preference for performance through coercive remedies.
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Canadian law sometimes allows gain-based remedies for certain wrongful acts. There is a strong suggestion that gain-based remedies are available in the common law provinces for torts and perhaps breaches of contract, but the courts have been hesitant. Common law provinces have also been willing to award gain-based remedies for breaches of confidence, in the court’s discretion. In the context of infringements of intellectual property rights, which is federal law, the legislation makes clear that gain-based remedies are available, although again this is in the discretion of the court. In both common law and Quebec civil law, in situations where one person is managing the property or affairs of another in a fiduciary capacity, improper gains must be surrendered, although it is arguable that the law ascribes rights acquired by the manager to the principal as the correct legal implementation of the parties’ relationship, rather than as a remedy for wrongdoing.
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Author / Editor
- Jeff Berryman (52)
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- Book Section (3)
- Journal Article (26)
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