Introduction

Abstract

The fact that a lawyer can ask such a question would, no doubt, confound laymen. Yet it is true that the scope, the basis, the function and even the very existence of the law of contract are the subject of debate and controversy among academic lawyers.

‘If the “law of contract” were not already entrenched in the traditions of legal education, would anyone organise a course around it, let alone produce books expounding it?’ (Wightman, 1989)