Unjust contracts

The study looks at the problem of unjust contracts - contracts which are both procedurally and substantively unfair - and considers both the direct and indirect ways in which the English judiciary and legislature have dealt with these contracts against a background of the principles of freedom of contract. These methods of control are evaluated in an attempt to determine whether or not the laws currently in force already fulfil the provisions of the proposed directive from the European Commission on unfair terms of contract which is intended to be implemented by December 1992. The topics of exclusion clauses (incorporation and construction) duress, undue influence and other related equitable doctrines, the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977, the role of the Director General of Fair Trading in relation to unfairness in contracts under the Fair Trading Act 1973 and briefly the registration of restrictive practices agreements are discussed. Attention is then given to comparative laws in force in other jurisdictions which deal directly with the problem of unjust contracts. As examples laws giving a civil right of action to aggrieved persons in France, West Germany, the United States of America, New South Wales and at federal level in Australia are considered. In Israel, Sweden and West Germany systems of administrative regulation of contracts have been established and each of these schemes is considered before the available methods of control are reviewed and proposals for reform made.