CONTENTS Chapter 1. Introduction... 1 1.1. Research theme... 1 1.2. Research questions... 2 1.3. Methodology and justifications for the chosen approach... 3 Chapter 2. Contract, breach of contract and remedies in contract... 7 2.1. Introduction... 7 2.2. The notion of contract... 8 2.2.1. Preliminary remarks... 8 2.2.2. A common law approach... 9 2.2.2.1. English law... 9 2.2.2.2. US Law... 10 2.2.3. A continental law approach... 12 2.2.3.1. French law... 12 2.2.3.2. German law... 14 2.2.3.3. Dutch law... 16 2.2.4. Contract in soft law bodies: PECL, DCFR and PICC... 17 2.2.5. The Proposal for a Regulation on a Common European Sales Law: the notion of contract... 19 2.3. Contract, promise and obligation: various theoretical approaches... 20 2.4. The notion of breach of contract and remedies in contract... 24 2.4.1. Introductory remarks... 24 2.4.2. Breach of contract: a common law perspective... 25 2.4.3. Remedies in contract: a common law perspective... 26 2.4.3.1. Damages... 27 2.4.3.2. Actual performance of the contract... 28 2.4.3.3. Termination... 29 2.4.4. The notion of breach of contract and remedies in contract: a continental law perspective... 30 vii
2.4.4.1. French law... 31 2.4.4.2. German law... 33 2.4.4.3. Dutch law... 33 2.5. A curiosum? CISG, PICC, DCFR, CESL and the notion of fundamental breach... 35 2.6. Breach of contract anticipated upon by parties: penalty clauses and exclusion clauses... 39 2.6.1. Penalty clauses and liquidated damages clauses... 39 2.6.2. Exclusion and limitation clauses... 41 2.7. Conclusion... 42 Chapter 3. Deliberate breach of contract: a notion to be explored, but not defined... 45 3.1. Introduction... 45 3.2. Introducing the concept of deliberate breach... 46 3.3. Deliberate breach and the distinction between excusable and nonexcusable breach... 49 3.4. The theory of efficient breach: a belief with supporters and opponents... 53 3.5. Deliberate breach and efficient breach compared: similar but not equal... 58 3.6. Deliberate breach of contract from a tort law perspective... 61 3.7. Deliberate breach in empirical legal studies... 66 3.8. Proving deliberateness? A comparison between deliberate breach and criminal intent... 68 3.9. Conclusion... 72 Chapter 4. Deliberate breach of contract and its influence in (legal) practice on core remedies in contract: an exploration... 75 4.1. Introduction... 75 4.2. Deliberateness and enforced performance... 77 4.2.1. Introductory remarks... 77 4.2.2. English law Ia: Raphael v Thames Valley Railway Company... 78 4.2.3. English law Ib: Co-operative Insurance Society Ltd v Argyll Stores (Holdings) Ltd... 79 4.2.4. English law IIa: Rankin v Lay... 83 4.2.5. English law IIb: Celestial Aviation v Paramount Airways... 83 4.2.6. US law: two case law examples indicating an implicit influence of deliberateness... 85 4.2.7. French law: the pool case... 87 4.2.8. German law: the window case... 88 4.2.9. Dutch law I: limited relevance of deliberateness for a claim for enforced performance... 88 4.2.10. Dutch law II: NSI Kantoren BV/Ernst & Young Accountants... 89 viii
4.2.11. Concluding remarks... 91 4.3. Deliberateness and its influence on the validity of penalty clauses and the court s discretion to mitigate or to increase the penalty... 91 4.3.1. Introductory remarks... 91 4.3.2. English law: Bridge v Campbell Discount Co. Ltd... 91 4.3.3. US law: a call for a different approach towards the penalty clause, but on which grounds?... 92 4.3.4. French law: the notion of dol and penalty clauses... 94 4.3.5. Swiss law: mitigation and motive connected... 95 4.3.6. Dutch law: NVB/Helder and the Buck case... 95 4.3.7. Concluding remarks... 96 4.4. Deliberateness and expectation damages... 97 4.4.1. Introductory remarks... 97 4.4.2. English law I: Golden Strait Corporation v Nippon Yusen Kubishika Kaisha (The Golden Victory)... 98 4.4.3. English law II: Patrick v Russo-British Grain Export Company, Limited... 100 4.4.4. US law: a principled no on an explicit link between deliberateness and expectation damages... 101 4.4.5. French law I: deliberateness and the requirement of foreseeability... 102 4.4.6. French law II: the airline case... 105 4.4.7. German law... 107 4.4.8. Dutch law I: deliberateness in the Civil Code or not?... 108 4.4.9. Dutch law II: Vos Logistics/TSN... 109 4.4.10. PECL, DCFR and CESL... 110 4.4.11. Concluding remarks... 113 4.5. Deliberateness and damages for non-pecuniary losses... 113 4.5.1. Introductory remarks... 113 4.5.2. English law: Ruxley Electronics and Construction Ltd v Forsyth... 114 4.5.3. US law: Lutz Farms et al. v. Asgrow Seed Company... 115 4.5.4. French law: recapturing the swimming pool case... 117 4.5.5. Dutch law: article 6:106 s. 1a Cc; an exceptional provision in the Dutch Civil Code... 118 4.5.6. Concluding remarks... 118 4.6. Deliberateness and punitive damages... 119 4.6.1. Introductory remarks... 119 4.6.2. US law I: deliberateness, punitive damages and the issue of contract and tort... 120 4.6.3. US law II: Fletcher v. Western National Life Insurance Co... 121 4.6.4. US law III: Seaman s Direct Buying Service Inc. v. Standard Oil Co.... 124 4.6.5. Dutch law: Van Rossum/Fortis... 126 4.6.6. Concluding remarks... 127 4.7. Deliberateness and account of profits... 128 4.7.1. Introductory remarks... 128 ix
4.7.2. English law I: Surrey County Council and another v Bredero Homes Ltd... 128 4.7.3. English law II: Attorney General v Blake (Jonathan Cape Ltd, third party)... 130 4.7.4. English law III: Experience Hendrix LLC v PPX Enterprises Inc and another... 133 4.7.5. US law I: Earthinfo, Inc v. Hydrosphere Resource Consultants, Inc.... 134 4.7.6. US law II: The Restatement (Third) of Restitution and Unjust Enrichment... 136 4.7.7. Dutch law: Doerga/Stichting Ymere... 139 4.7.8. Concluding remarks... 141 4.8. Deliberateness and (partial) termination... 141 4.8.1. Introductory remarks... 141 4.8.2. US law: deliberateness and material breach; a few case law examples... 142 4.8.3. Deliberate breach and termination in a convergent soft law vehicle: the Draft Common Frame of Reference... 145 4.8.4. Concluding remarks... 147 4.9. Deliberateness and recovering costs for legal representation... 147 4.9.1. Introductory remarks... 147 4.9.2. US law: James T. Wellman et al. v. Energy Resources Inc.... 147 4.9.3. Concluding remarks... 148 4.10. An outsider: exclusion clauses limiting liability in a contractual context... 149 4.10.1. Introductory remarks... 149 4.10.2. English law: Astrazeneca UK Ltd v Albemarle International Corporation... 149 4.10.3. US law: William D. Huggins and Dona. G. Huggins v. Marriott Ownership Resorts, Inc.... 152 4.10.4. Dutch law: Telfort/Scaramea... 153 4.10.5. Concluding remarks... 155 4.11. Conclusion... 156 Chapter 5. A framework for solving cases of deliberate breach: four arguments and six recommendations for adaptations in remedies in contract... 159 5.1. Introduction... 159 5.2. The moral argument... 160 5.3. The systematic argument... 164 5.4. The practical argument... 166 5.5. The economic argument... 167 5.6. Intermezzo: three remarks... 169 5.7. Recommendation I: Deliberate breach and actual performance... 171 5.8. Recommendation II: Deliberate breach and expectation damages... 173 5.9. Recommendation III: Deliberate breach and account of profits... 174 5.10. Recommendation IV: Deliberate breach and punitive damages... 178 x
5.11. Recommendation V: Deliberate breach and termination... 179 5.12. Recommendation VI: Deliberate breach and penalty clauses... 180 5.13. Conclusion: 4 arguments, 6 recommendations; a general approach or case-by-case solutions?... 181 Chapter 6. Eight case studies on deliberate breach of contract: the pudding and the eating... 183 6.1. Introduction... 183 6.2. Case study 1: the double sale case... 184 6.3. Case study 2: the farmland case... 187 6.4. Case study 3: the car service case... 190 6.5. Case study 4: the supermarket case... 191 6.6. Case study 5: the swimming pool case... 193 6.7. Case study 6: the airline tickets case... 196 6.8. Case study 7: the aluminium pipes case... 197 6.9. Case study 8: the bad faith insurance case... 198 6.10. Conclusion... 201 Chapter 7. Summary... 205 7.1. Principal argument and research questions... 205 7.2. Deliberate breach of contract: a notion with many faces... 205 7.3. Deliberate breach of contract in current practice: a denied reality?... 207 7.4. Deliberateness of the breach, a factor to take into account: why and how?... 210 7.5. The pudding and the eating: case studies to explore the effects of deliberateness on remedies in contract... 212 References... 217 Index... 237 xi