LL438E Half Unit
Commercial Remedies
This information is for the 2022/23 session.
Teacher responsible
Prof Charles Webb NAB 6.26 and Dr Andrew Summers NAB 6.06
Availability
This course is available on the Executive Master of Laws (ELLM). This course is not available as an outside option.
Pre-requisites
Undergraduate contract and tort law
Course content
The objective of the course is to provide students with a detailed understanding of remedies in a commercial context. The reading addresses both case law and academic commentary. Here is an indicative list of the issues that will be considered on the course:
1. The aims of commercial remedies: What interests and other policies may be served by the law when remedying commercial disputes?
2. The function of contract damages: How do the courts assess damages for breaches of contract? Should the courts do more to protect the claimant’s interest in performance? What limits are placed on the recovery or measure of damages?
3. Punishment: Is punishment of a defaulting defendant ever a legitimate aim in commercial remedies? Should punitive damages be given a greater role in English commercial law?
4. Agreed remedies: To what extent are commercial parties free to fix the remedies available to them in the event of breach? Does freedom of contract extend to the parties’ secondary obligations?
5. Unjust enrichment: What is the law of unjust enrichment? What is its relationship to the law of contract? What can commercial parties recover under the law of unjust enrichment?
6. Comparative law: How do other jurisdictions deal with these questions? What might the common law learn from civil law systems?
Teaching
24 hours
Formative coursework
All students are expected to produce one 1,500 word formative essay during the course. Formative assessment opportunities will be provided (essay or problem questions)
Indicative reading
Rowan, Remedies for Breach of Contract: A Comparative Analysis of the Protection of Performance (OUP 2012)
Burrows, Remedies for Torts and Breach of Contract (4th edn OUP 2019)
Virgo and Worthington (eds), Commercial Remedies: Resolving Controversies (CUP 2017)
Webb, Reason and Restitution (OUP 2016)
Assessment
Assessment path 1
Essay (100%, 8000 words).
Assessment path 2
Take-home assessment (100%).
Key facts
Department: Law School
Total students 2021/22: Unavailable
Average class size 2021/22: Unavailable
Controlled access 2021/22: No
Value: Half Unit
Course selection videos
Some departments have produced short videos to introduce their courses. Please refer to the course selection videos index page for further information.
