The DCFR and the CESL as Models for Law Reform

Abstract

This book has attempted to explore how a European contract law instrument such as the Draft Common Frame of Reference (DCFR) or the proposed Common European Sales Law (CESL) might interact with national legal systems, in particular with English and German law. Such interaction may take various forms. One form of interaction may occur if national legal systems emulate solutions set out in the European instrument: in this scenario, the instrument would provide a model for law reform at the national level, and its substance would influence and shape the content of domestic laws. This chapter assesses the potential of the DCFR and the proposed CESL to play such a role. It first sets out the various ways in which sets of legal rules and principles in general and, more specifically, contract law regimes can serve as models for law reform. It then ascertains the suitability of the DCFR and the CESL to function as models. Finally, it attempts to predict how this function might have a bearing in the particular context of English law and German law.