Richard Austen-Baker, Implied Terms in English Contract Law
| Published date | 01 September 2018 |
| Pages | 433-434 |
| DOI | 10.3366/elr.2018.0518 |
| Date | 01 September 2018 |
This is the – by some commentators eagerly awaited (see A Phang, Book Review, (2015) 32 JCL 194) – second edition of a generally interesting if (in the opinion of this reviewer) rather too concise monograph on the important topic of implied terms in English contract law; the first edition was published in 2011 (ISBN 9781848445581). Just as the previous edition, this edition starts off with an introduction which concisely covers general issues such as categorisation and history (chapter one) and then moves to what are called “some technical considerations” regarding the implication of terms in chapter two which rather too briefly deals with the technical background and what might potentially be called underlying (and interesting) questions of policy. In the remaining five chapters of the publication, the author proceeds – in line with the coverage and classification of implied terms commonly found in most textbooks – to deal with the general principles applicable to terms implied at common law (chapter three), with specific instances regarding terms implied at common law (chapter four), with terms implied by custom, usage or course of dealing (chapter five), with terms implied by statute (chapter six) and, finally, with terms implied in fact (chapter seven). The second edition states the law as of 1 March 2016, meaning that it covers some important recent case law developments in this area (such as, first and foremost,
In relation to the first edition, another reviewer bemoaned the fact that, given its length, the book provided an “interesting overview” but was likely to be “of limited value to practitioners wishing to have detailed guidance on implied terms” (see C Ervine, Publication Review, (2012) JBL 163–164): for example, as pointed out in said review of the first edition, the analysis of terms implied by statute was “relatively superficial”. In fairness however, it should be pointed out that Austen-Baker never pretended that his coverage of the subject was comprehensive – and this fact is also expressly acknowledged by Ervine in his aforementioned review of the first edition. Yet, the lack of more extensive coverage and analysis in the first edition was regrettable as it impacted on the usefulness of a generally good book for students, academics and practitioners alike. It was thus to be...
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