Macgregor, Laura --- "Remedies for breach of contract in Scots law" [2019] ELECD 2304; in Halson, Roger; Campbell, David (eds), "Research Handbook on Remedies in Private Law" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2019) 336

Book Title: Research Handbook on Remedies in Private Law

Editor(s): Halson, Roger; Campbell, David

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Section: Chapter 18

Section Title: Remedies for breach of contract in Scots law

Author(s): Macgregor, Laura

Number of pages: 19

Abstract/Description:

Scots contract law has experienced extensive English influence, and much of it will be familiar to English lawyers. The differences which exist arise as a result of civilian influence on Scots law. The author focuses on three areas which differ significantly from English contract law: (1) mutuality; (2) specific implement; and (3) material breach and rescission. The first is a fundamental concept which, inter alia, allows an ‘innocent’ party faced with a breach of contract to withhold his or her own performance. The second is an area which has attracted significant attention from scholars outside Scotland. The author provides her own perspective, taking account of existing scholarship. The third issue involves the interplay of contract and unjustified enrichment remedies. Recommendations of the Scottish Law Commission, if enacted, will do much to improve this contentious area of law. The comparative perspective offered by this chapter highlights the solutions applied by Scots law to perennial contract law problems.