Rick Bigwood – författare

Judges and scholars routinely use concepts such as 'exploitation' in a justificatory way. In the field of contract law, a finding of exploitation may excuse a party from the normal consequences of his or her manifested contractual assent. However, the meaning of exploitation is usually assumed for this purpose, rather than elaborated. In fact, exploitation is a highly contested concept.Exploitative Contracts examines the 'essentially contestable' criteria of interpersonal exploitation claims. It puts forward a conception of exploitation: 'legal contractual exploitation', a form of wrongdoing that arises in connection with the formation of contracts. This notion is shown to underpin traditional heads of relief in contract law, including unconscionable dealing, undue influence, unilateral mistake in equity, and 'lawful act' duress.Importantly, this notion of legal contractual exploitation conforms to the intellectual and institutional forms of order presupposed by the classic liberal conception of the contract. The wrongfulness of an act of exploitation must reside in some characteristic of the processes of contract formation rather than in some quality of the impugned contract itself.The doctrines of unconscionable dealing, duress, and undue influence are examined in detail in the light of what they each reveal about the 'process' conception of legal contractual exploitation. In turn, the volume explains how an understanding of these contract law doctrines can be enhanced by a proper conception of exploitation.

This volume of essays celebrates the first 50 years in the life of the New Zealand Court of Appeal. The move, in 1958, to a Court of Appeal comprising permanent appellate judges was an important landmark in the development of New Zealand law. The chapters highlight areas where the Court of Appeal has made a significant contribution to New Zealand and wider Commonwealth law, showing how the Court's jurisprudence has both reflected and contributed to resolving some of the pressing issues of the times.They are a critical reflection on the changing work and achievements of the permanent Court over the past half-century. In addition to recording the perspectives of a former President on the Court's achievements, the essays in this volume deal with such varied topics as: the role and use of precedent by the Court of Appeal; the Court's contribution to Commonwealth administrative law; criminal appeals; relationship property; accident compensation and tort litigation; company law; equity in commercial dealings; and the rights of Maori, the indigenous people of New Zealand.

It has many times been said that contracts involve assumptions of obligation or liability, but what that means, and what it is that is assumed, have not often been discussed.It is to further such discussion that some of the author''s previously published writings around this subject have been brought together in this book. His basic premises are that contractual obligation and liability in this context are two sides to the same coin and that an assumption of one is an assumption of both. Parties are bound not because liability has been imposed upon them by law as a result of their having entered into a contract but because, in the act of assuming, they have imposed it upon themselves. Contract provides a facility the purpose of which is to enable this to be done within the limits prescribed by law.The implication of these premises are much more significant than might be supposed when applied to such areas of contract as formation, consideration, intention to contract, exception clauses, privity and damages. The book concludes with a treatment of the role of assumption in tort.Because of the importance of its subject matter and its wide-ranging treatment, this book should appeal not only to teachers and postgraduate students of contract but also to practitioners in the field and to anyone else with an interest in contract theory.

It has many times been said that contracts involve assumptions of obligation or liability, but what that means, and what it is that is assumed, have not often been discussed.It is to further such discussion that some of the author''s previously published writings around this subject have been brought together in this book. His basic premises are that contractual obligation and liability in this context are two sides to the same coin and that an assumption of one is an assumption of both. Parties are bound not because liability has been imposed upon them by law as a result of their having entered into a contract but because, in the act of assuming, they have imposed it upon themselves. Contract provides a facility the purpose of which is to enable this to be done within the limits prescribed by law.The implication of these premises are much more significant than might be supposed when applied to such areas of contract as formation, consideration, intention to contract, exception clauses, privity and damages. The book concludes with a treatment of the role of assumption in tort.Because of the importance of its subject matter and its wide-ranging treatment, this book should appeal not only to teachers and postgraduate students of contract but also to practitioners in the field and to anyone else with an interest in contract theory.