Commercial agency and the duty to act in good faith

Tosato, Andrea

Abstract

© The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. Under Directive 86/653/EEC on the co-ordination of the laws of European Union Member States relating to self-employed commercial agents, commercial agents have an obligation to act 'dutifully and in good faith' (the Obligation). This article considers the impact that this general good faith clause has had upon the UK legal order. It first analyses the Obligation, assessing its scope, function and content. It then reviews the choices made by the UK legislature in implementing this duty and scrutinises the manner in which it has been construed and applied by UK courts, as well as commentators. Finally, it charts the areas of the pre-existing common law agency rules that are affected by this imported notion and appraises the resulting alterations to the positive law.

Citation

Tosato, A. (2016). Commercial agency and the duty to act in good faith. Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, 36(3), 661-695. https://doi.org/10.1093/ojls/gqv040

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 15, 2015
• Online Publication Date: Jan 20, 2016
• Publication Date: Sep 1, 2016
• Deposit Date: Jul 8, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 8, 2016
• Journal: Oxford Journal of Legal Studies
• Print ISSN: 0143-6503
• Electronic ISSN: 1464-3820
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 36
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 661-695
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/ojls/gqv040
• Keywords: Agency, Good Faith, Commercial Agents, EU Private Law, Common Law, Contract Law
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/772213
• Publisher URL: http://ojls.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2016/01/18/ojls.gqv040.abstract
• Additional Information: This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in Oxford Journal of Legal Studies following peer review. The version of record Andrea Tosato Commercial Agency and the Duty to Act in Good Faith first published online January 20, 2016 doi:10.1093/ojls/gqv040 is available online at: http://ojls.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2016/01/18/ojls.gqv040.abstract
• Contract Date: Jul 8, 2016