Chapter 14. Specific Performance in the Common and Civil Law: Some Lessons for Harmonisation

Abstract

This chapter discusses a criticism of the inadequate perspective that has been adopted in relation to contract law harmonization in the European Commission (EC), with lessons to be taken for any project (such as that in Canada) which attempts to bridge the gulf between civil and common law jurisdictions. Through the comparative analysis of the position of specific performance in common and civil law traditions, it has been seen that, if harmonisation is to go beyond the purely semantic, one needs to take into account more that simply the surface rule and expose the deeper ideological values that lie behind it. The analysis of specific performance has revealed the fundamental value-differences in legal traditions, thus revealing the inevitable legal adaptation that harmonisation threatens. Keywords: civil law traditions; common law traditions; contract law; European commission (EC)