The Construction, Sources, and Implications of Consensualism in Contract: Studies in the History of Law and Justice

Dr. Kane Abry is a lawyer and teacher at the University of Edinburgh. He has several publications. His research interests include EU competition law, commercial law, international law, constitutional law, and legal history. He has a particular interest in contract law, especially regarding formation, interpretation, and breach in a historical and comparative context.

This book offers a comprehensive introduction to French contract law with a focus on the role of consent and the evolution of consensualism, considering its immediate historical sources. The book provides a clear, in-depth, and analytical discussion of the contingency of consensualism and how the development of consensual ideas across time and transnational geographical settings has specifically underpinned modern French contract law, which has inspired other legal systems and continues to do so. It also challenges the macro-narratives of European legal history and redefines consensualism so that it may be properly understood, addressing its manifest contemporary misinterpretations. Thorough, engaging, well-structured and inventive, there is no other English-language scholarly work that offers a similar analysis.

“This monograph makes an evident contribution to the field by offering an original interpretation of several provisions in the Code Civil which relate to the law of contract. The author demonstrates an impressive grasp of Latin, French and English sources as well as knowledge of Roman law, legal history, and contemporary French law. It is well-referenced and offers an extensive bibliography”.  – Dr Stephen Bogle, Senior Lecturer in Private Law, University of Glasgow, UK

“The author brings a critical perspective to bear throughout the monograph and develops a clear and quite sophisticated position on the interaction between consensualism and formalism in Roman and French law and the intervening European ius commune”.  – Prof Hector MacQueen, Emeritus Professor of Private Law, University of Edinburgh, UK