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CONTRACT DOCTRINE, PREDICTABILITY AND THE NEBULOUS EXCEPTION

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 March 2014

Rex Ahdar
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Abstract

There is a tendency in contemporary contract law for judges to “never say never” and permit an open-ended exception from the rule. This nebulous exception is designed to cater for the rare instance where application of the rule would be undesirable in the interests of justice. However, this kind of imprecise exception is deleterious in terms of the unpredictability it generates, as well as the attendant increases in time and costs that result. The “never say never” approach is to be discouraged in contract law where commercial predictability, while certainly not inviolable, nonetheless remains a weighty goal deserving of continued deference.

Keywords

Contract lawpredictabilitycertaintyclarityrule of lawimprecise exceptions“never say never”
Type
Articles
Information
The Cambridge Law Journal , Volume 73 , Issue 1 , March 2014 , pp. 39 - 60
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge Law Journal and Contributors 2014 

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References

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