ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines some of the differences of substance between the English law of contract and contract in the continental civil law tradition which it could be useful for students of English law to understand in order to reflect on their own law. One thing that strikes common lawyer about the civilian view of contract is that that there is a scheme, a system, within which contract has its natural place. Other systems may see the different relationships between contract and tort or between contract and property in ways which can give common lawyer pause for thought. Civil law systems favour the good faith purchaser. The policies underlying this can more easily be explored by English students when they have an understanding of different approaches taken by other systems. Even the structure of contract law is seen somewhat differently in civil law systems. The classical Roman heritage of ‘special contracts’ lingers in the modern civil law systems.
