Contracts for a third-party beneficiary : a historical and comparative account / edited by Jan Hallebeek, Harry Dondorp.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Hallebeek, Jan, 1954-

Dondorp, Harry.

Series:

Legal history library ; v. 1.

Legal history library. Studies in the history of private law ; v. 1.

Legal history library ; v. 1. Studies in the history of private law, 1874-1793 ; v. 1

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Contracts--Europe--History.

Contracts.

Third parties (Law)--Europe--History.

Third parties (Law).

History.

Europe.

Physical Description:

vii, 171 pages ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

Leiden ; Boston : Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2008.

Summary:

Through recent changes in Dutch (1992) and English (1999) private law, contracts for a third-party beneficiary are, in Western Europe, nowadays considered to be effective and enforceable. This concept is, however, incompatible with both the civilian tradition on the continent and the traditional parties-only rule of English common law. The purpose of this study is to show how the problem of the third-party beneficiary was dealt with during the various periods of Western legal thought and to discuss the subject from the perspective of present-day comparative law. The book is of interest not only to legal historians, but also to all who are engaged with present-day private law-scholars, practitioners and advanced students.

Contents:

Jan Hallebeek

Chapter 1 Roman Law 7

1.2 Justinian's Institutes: alteri stipulari nemo potest 8

1.3 Classical Roman law: alteri stipulari dari nemo potest 9

1.4 Later developments 12

1.5 The stipulator has an interest himself 14

1.6 Mandatum alteri and pacts in favour of a third party 15

1.7 Per extraneam personam nihil adquiri posse 16

1.8 Acquisition of remedies through slaves and children under paternal control and similar cases 17

1.9 Exceptional cases where a third-party beneficiary has an action 18

Chapter 2 Medieval Legal Scholarship 21

2.1 Alteri stipulari nemo potest; the medieval approach in general 21

2.2 The example of Canon law 22

2.3 The example of Castile 29

2.4 Developments in civilian legal scholarship 34

Harry Dondorp

Chapter 3 The Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries 47

3.2 Influence of the Canon law of contract 49

3.3 Third-party rights: the Castilian alternative 50

3.4 Natural law 54

3.5 Legal practice 58

3.6 'Ius hodiernum' and legal scholarship 63

Chapter 4 The Nineteenth Century 69

4.2 Alteri stipulari; the nineteenth century approach in general 70

4.3 Renewed influence of Roman law in Germany 72

4.4 Renewed influence of Roman law in France 74

4.5 Influence of indigenous legal practice in France and Germany 79

4.6 Dogmatic explanations 82

4.7 Life insurance and the stipulation in favour of a third party 84

4.8 From the contractual clause in the benefit of a third party to the modern third-party benefit contract 88

David Ibbetson

Chapter 5 English Law before 1900 93

5.2 Formal contracts and third-party rights 98

5.3 Informal contracts and third-party rights 103

5.4 Property rights 109

5.5 Privity of contract in the nineteenth century 111

Chapter 6 English Law: Twentieth Century 115

6.2 Compensatory damages and indirect enforcement 117

6.3 Direct enforcement and commercial practice: complex contracts 119

6.4 Direct enforcement: avoiding the effects of the restriction 125

6.5 Reform of the law 132

6.6 The Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 134

6.7 Common law and Civil law 136

Hendrik Verhagen

Chapter 7 Contemporary Law 137

7.2 Towards a fully emancipated contract in favour of a third party 138

7.3 The intention to confer a right upon the third party 143

7.4 Acceptance, renunciation and confirmation 146

7.5 The identification of the third party 152

7.6 Content of the stipulation for a third party 153

7.7 The legal relationships between stipulator, promisor and third party 155

7.8 Dogmatic explanations for acquisition of rights by the third party 158.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [161]-163) and indexes.

ISBN:

9789004169746

9004169741

OCLC:

231588803