The Doctrine of Frustration in English Contract Law

Abstract

Mankind has faced in the past and will inevitably face in the future with the powerful forces of natural and man-made, which are often dramatic and lasting impact on the society, economy, commercial and other contracts. Frustration — one of the original institutions of English law, which allows the court to release the parties from further performance of the contract upon the occurrence of certain circumstances, when the performance becomes impossible or extremely economically unprofitable. The emergence of this institution in the second half of the 19th century preceded by a long period during which legal practice consistently followed the principle of pacta sunt servanda. The article considers the basic judicial precedents illustrating the development of the doctrine of contract frustration in English law, sets out the views of English jurists in this field, an comparative analysis of this doctrine and relevant norms of Russian law was attempted. The methodological framework of this research based on a set of methods of research cognition, among which the main ones are historical and comparative law methods. For a century and a half of its development the English law doctrine of frustration of contract has evolved significantly. During this period understanding of the nature and types of circumstances that can cause frustration of the contract, of the essence of the frustration, of the necessary restrictions on the use of this doctrine, as well as the legal consequences of frustration, has been improved. The author comes to a conclusion about the need to study the doctrine of frustration of contract not only in academic purposes, but also for the improvement of the relevant Russian legal norms, their application, as well as to ensure the operation of national lawyers in the sphere of application of the English law and law of countries that have experienced the impact of this doctrine.