The Doctrine of Privity of Contract: Judicial Activism in the Supreme Court of Canada

The traditional conception of a contract is that of a legally binding agreement between two private parties who have voluntarily promised something to each other. Often, however, contracts involve third parties in some way. In the British common law tradition, the doctrine of privity of contract add...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The University of Toronto law journal 2007-04, Vol.57 (2), p.269-291
Main Author: Trebilcock, Michael
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Activism
Canada. Supreme Court
Commercial Law
Common law
Contract law
Contract provisions
Contracts
Court decisions
Insurance policies
Insurance providers
Judges & magistrates
Liability insurance
Limited liability
Political questions and judicial power
Roles
Subcontractors
Third party beneficiaries
Torts
Citations: Items that cite this one
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Summary:The traditional conception of a contract is that of a legally binding agreement between two private parties who have voluntarily promised something to each other. Often, however, contracts involve third parties in some way. In the British common law tradition, the doctrine of privity of contract addresses third parties' relationships with contracts to which they are not a party. Succinctly put the doctrine states that contracts can confer rights or impose obligations only on parties to the contract.
ISSN:0042-0220
1710-1174
1710-1174
DOI:10.1353/tlj.2007.0022