Private Law Theory

ABSTRACT
This Article develops a theory of just contractual relationships for a liberal society. We argue that this theory is already implicit in vast areas of modern contract law. As a liberal theory, properly-called, our account is premised on the canonical commitments of liberalism to people’s self-determination and their substantive equality. As a theory of contract law, it focuses on the parties’ interpersonal interaction, rather than on the justice of the social order as a whole. As a theory of just contractual relationships, it attends to the justness of both the formation of contracts and of their implications. Finally, proposing our account as a theory of modern contract law, we aspire to explain a wide range of justice-oriented doctrines, dealing with the bargaining process as well as with the parties’ rights and obligations and with the consequences of nonperformance.

Dagan, Hanoch and Dorfman, Avihay, Justice for Contracts (August 11, 2019).

First posted 2019-08-14 06:16:03