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Law of Contract — University of Cambridge notes | caselaw

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Law of Contract

Law of Contract on the University of Cambridge Law Tripos (Part IB). The law of agreements: when a promise becomes legally binding, what its terms mean, when it can be escaped, and what happens when it is broken. The backbone of the first-year qualifying-law syllabus.

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Offer and acceptance

The grammar of contractual formation: promise, assent, communication, and commercial certainty.

Certainty and intention to create legal relations

Certainty and intention mark the boundary between social promise and enforceable contractual obligation.

Consideration and promissory estoppel

Consideration remains the gatekeeper, while estoppel polices reliance at its equitable margins.

Terms — express and implied

Contractual terms determine not whether parties are bound, but what their bargain contains.

Exclusion clauses and UCTA / CRA

Exclusion doctrine is where contractual freedom meets statutory control over unfair risk allocation.

Misrepresentation

Misrepresentation polices defective consent, but its remedies remain historically untidy and exam-sensitive.

Mistake polices defective consent, but only within narrow limits set by objective agreement.

Duress and undue influence

Pressure and influence expose the boundary between hard bargaining and defective consent.

Illegality and public policy

Illegality tests the boundary between private enforcement and the integrity of the legal order.

Privity of contract

Privity marks the boundary between contractual autonomy, third-party reliance, and remedial justice.

Discharge by performance and breach

Performance fixes the contractual risk; breach determines whether the innocent party may terminate or only claim damages.

Frustration marks the narrow boundary between contractual risk and legally excusing supervening events.

Damages — expectation and reliance

Contract damages translate broken promises into money, but expectation and reliance protect different interests.

Remoteness and mitigation

Remoteness and mitigation define the outer boundary of recoverable contractual loss.

Specific performance and injunctions

Equitable compulsion protects performance where damages cannot adequately vindicate the contractual right.

Restitution and unjust enrichment

Restitution supplies contract law with a disciplined response to defective transfers and failed bargains.

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