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for a past academic year. Please see the current academic year for up to date information.
| Unit name |
Law of Contract |
| Unit code |
LAWD10008 |
| Credit points |
20 |
| Level of study |
C/4
|
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24)
|
| Unit director |
Mrs. Deehan |
| Open unit status |
Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None
|
| Co-requisites |
None
|
| School/department |
University of Bristol Law School |
| Faculty |
Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
Description including Unit Aims
Contract law is a component of the modern law of obligations. Fundamentally, contract law is concerned with the promises which people make to one another. It governs questions such as:
- which agreements will the law enforce?
- what obligations are imposed by the agreement in question? and
- what remedies are imposed if the obligations that have been promised are not fulfilled?
Topics covered include: offer and acceptance; consideration and promissory estoppel; intention to create legal relations; privity; illegitimate pressure; express and implied terms, including exclusion and limitation clauses; misrepresentation; mistake; frustration; performance and breach; and remedies.
The unit aims to ensure that students are able to:
- identify and craft a ratio decidendi for any particular contract law case;
- demonstrate an in-depth, critical understanding of the application of the rules of contract;
- apply the law relating to contracts to complex situations, noting any areas of legal or factual uncertainty;
- recognise the strengths and weaknesses of existing case law;
- present complex legal arguments in a coherent and persuasive fashion;
- analyse and evaluate case law;
- synthesise case law.
Intended Learning Outcomes
By the end of this unit a successful student will be able to:
- Demonstrate a basic working knowledge of the English law of contract
- Identify and craft a ratio decidendi for any particular contract law case;
- Demonstrate an in-depth, critical understanding of the application of the rules of contract;
- Apply the law relating to contracts to complex situations, noting any areas of legal or factual uncertainty;
- Recognise the strengths and weaknesses of existing case law;
- Present complex legal arguments in a coherent and persuasive fashion;
- Analyse and evaluate case law;
- Synthesise case law.
Teaching Information
The unit will be taught by a combination of 30 lectures and 8 tutorials.
Assessment Information
Formative assessment: one mid-sessional examination in January plus one other piece of formative work.
The (formative) mid-sessional exam is mandatory; the other formative assessment is optional.
Summative assessment: one 3-hour (unseen) exam consisting of essays and problem questions (100% of mark).
The assessments will assess all of the intended learning outcomes for this unit.
Reading and References
- A Burrows, A Casebook on Contract Law (4th edn., Hart, 2013)
- E McKendrick, Contract Law (11th edn., Palgrave MacMillan, 2015)
- Beatson et al, Ansons Law of Contract 29th edn., OUP, 2010)
- Chen-Wishart, Contract Law (5th edn., Oxford, 2015)
- Cheshire, Fifoot & Furmston, The Law of Contract (16th edn., Oxford, 2012)
- Peel, Treitel: The Law of Contract (14th edn., Thomson, Sweet & Maxwell, 2015)
- O’Sullivan & Hilliard, The Law of Contract (7th edn., OUP, 2016)
