THE RIGHT TO SPECIFIC PERFORMANCE. THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT. Ed by Jan Hallebeek and Harry Dondorp Antwerp, Oxford, Portland: Intersentia (www.intersentia.be), Ius Commune Europaeum vol 82, 2010. xi + 189 pp. ISBN 9789400000339. €44.

Published date01 January 2011
Pages145-146
Date01 January 2011
DOI10.3366/elr.2011.0008

This edited collection traces the history of the right to specific performance from its origins in Roman law to its current manifestation in contemporary Dutch law. In doing so, it contributes not only to the larger debate about the history of legal doctrine in Europe, but also demonstrates with great subtlety the interplay between the larger macro-narrative of European legal history and the doctrinal histories which underpin it. The book opens with a lucid and highly informative introduction by Jan Hallebeek in which the golden thread linking the seven chapters is pointed out to the reader. As the editor admits, the chapters comprising this book all have different focusses. Be that as it may, together with the introduction, they form a coherent whole which sets out the history of this complex legal institution to great effect. It is not the intention of this review to comment on each of the seven chapters. A few observations about certain chapters will suffice. Chapter 1, a discussion of Roman law by Laurens Winkel, demonstrates the fundamental importance of a thorough understanding of Roman law for any history of legal doctrine in Europe. Through a subtle and nuanced analysis, Winkel convincingly argues that specific performance may not have been the only remedy available to the successful litigant in terms of the cognitio extraordinaria...

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