Some comparative aspects of specific implement in Scots law
Abstract
The Scots law of specific implement of contracts may usefully be
compared with the South African law on the specific performance of
contracts. Both systems have been influenced by the Anglo-American
law of specific performance.
The introduction to the thesis suggests a redefinition of specific
implement.
Part I sketches the history of specific implement, and also the
history of the remedy in Roman and Roman-Dutch law.
Part II discusses the modern law on the general right to the remedy
in Scots and South African law, and the court's discretion to refuse
the remedy on good grounds. The grounds of employment contracts and
the impossibility of enforcing the decree of specific implement are
examined; revisions are suggested in the light of modern circumstances.
Part III concentrates on the Scots remedy in the sale of goods. A
study of the English legal history behind section 52 of the Sale of
Goods Act 1979 permits comparison of Scots law with that of France and
other countries as regards the idea that property may pass by
contract. An esto argument, if property should pass by delivery,
compares Scots law with that of West Germany, Switzerland, and South
Africa. The final chapter discusses the economic theory of specific
performance.