Money Awards in Contract Law

"The quantification of money awards for breach of contract is a topic of both significant theoretical interest and immense practical importance. Recent debates have ranged from the availability of gain-based awards to the theoretical basis for principles of remoteness and mitigation. While these and other important issues, such as the recovery of compensation for non-pecuniary loss, are touched upon, the book's principal objective is to challenge the orthodox understanding of the expectation principle, as famously laid down by Parke B in Robinson v Harman. According to this understanding, the usual objective of money awards for breach of contract is to compensate for 'loss' suffered by reference to the position the innocent party would have occupied had the contract been performed. After challenging this orthodoxy, Dr Winterton proposes a new account of the money awards provided in response to breach of contract which draws an important distinction between substitutionary and compensatory awards. In exploring this distinction, the book examines the principles underpinning the quantification and restriction of both kinds of award, as well as certain theoretical issues such as the relationship between contractual rights and remedies, and the legitimacy of English law's approach towards the availability of coercive relief. The book's unifying objective is to provide a coherent picture of contractual rights and remedies. It will be of interest to judges, practitioners and academics alike."--Bloomsbury Publishing.