Judge-Made Contracts: Reconstructing Unconscionable Contracts
Although unconscionability is thought to be a nearly exhausted topic, there are still some disputed issues regarding its remedies. This paper discusses one of these issues, namely the judicial reconstruction of unconscionable contracts or unreasonable contract clauses. More concretely, in many legal systems the judge is granted, at least in some cases, the power to revise the terms of unconscionable contracts: he may substitute "reasonable" terms for the "unreasonable" ones so that the contract remains valid. Nevertheless, an attempt by the judge to adjust an "unreasonable" term will create opportunism from both sides and will lead to arbitrary judicial decisions, thus upsetting the security of transactions and inevitably leading to higher transaction costs. Hence we argue that, with a few exceptions pertaining to monopoly or collusion situations, the judge should only decide between enforceability and non-enforceability of the contract or the clause. If the parties want their void contract to be enforced they can always renegotiate after the court decision and modify it themselves.
Duress in Contracts: An Economic Analysis
This paper is forthcoming as a chapter in Contract Law and Economics, ed. Gerrit de Geest (Cheltenham: Elgar 2009) [Elgar Encyclopedia of Law and Economics 2nd ed.] and its goal is to provide an overview of the economic analyses of contractual duress. The focus is on distinctive features of the economic perspective on the duress doctrine, as developed in the theoretical literature of law and economics. Before discussing the results of economic analysis, the legal background and some non-economic theories of duress are briefly presented.
Fieldwork in geography teaching: A critical review of the literature and approaches
Abstract Virtually all lecturers in geography recognise the importance of fieldwork as a vital mode of teaching in the subject. This paper draws on material produced as part of a HEFCE review of teaching and learning in the field and assesses the implications of recent changes in higher education for field studies in geography. The literature on the development of, and recent changes in, fieldwork practice is reviewed and assumptions about appropriate forms of teaching and assessment are challenged. The need for carefully integrated preparation of project‐orientated fieldwork is stressed and the importance of debriefing and feedback after field visits is emphasised. Various suggestions for guidelines on good practice are presented. Finally, a range of future issues and problems in fieldwork is identified and discussed.