Has the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 gone far enough in reforming the English law of privacy?
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- The 1999 Act: The creation of a wide-ranging exception to the doctrine of privacy
- The doctrine of privacy: Rationale and arguments for reform
- The scope of the 1999 Act: Under what conditions can third parties obtain a right to enforce contracts?
- An incomplete reform: The limits of the 1999 Act
- Exclusions and limitations: The cases not covered by the Act
- The 1999 Act and the pre-existing exceptions to the privacy rule: The effect of the Act on judicial development
- Conclusion
SummaryUnder the doctrine of privacy, which became entrenched in English law in the latter half of the 19th century , contractual rights and liabilities are limited to the parties to the contract. The mounting criticisms and arguments for reform have led to the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 , an important statute which modernizes the law of contract and diminishes the relevance of complex case law dealing with the rule of privacy and its exceptions. However, while the Act has introduced a substantial exception to the privacy rule, it has left the rule intact for cases not covered by the Act . Therefore, for a number of cases, third party claims will still have to be based on pre-existing statutory and common law exceptions. This essay shall examine the problems caused by the privacy rule and the impetus for reform; it shall set out the circumstances in which third parties may or may not rely on the Act; finally, it shall analyze the incomplete nature of the Act in the context of the reform of the rule of privacy.
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