Approaches towards the concept of non-pecuniary losses deriving from breach of contract

Zlatev, Zlatin Mitkov (2019) Approaches towards the concept of non-pecuniary losses deriving from breach of contract. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

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Abstract

This thesis examines the nature of non-pecuniary losses deriving from breach of contract. It introduces the concept of contractual interest whose purpose is to connect the contents of the agreement with the consequences of its breach. The contractual interest comprises the stipulated subject-matter and the aim that the promisee achieves with its delivery. In English legal theory the concept of contractual aim is new, but in every agreement the promisee pursues a certain outcome that is achievable as a result of the performance. The aims of the agreement would be consequent on the performance, and the promisee should be able to enjoy all of them. Both pecuniary and non-pecuniary aims can be pursued in a single contract. This possibility determines the wide scope of the contractual interest that the promisee might have in the performance. If the promisee aims to achieve something further than a sole enhancement of his financial position, then he will have a non-pecuniary contractual interest. The non-pecuniary interest can exist in all sorts of agreements regardless of their subject-matters or the type of their parties. This interest determines the consequences of the breach too. Notwithstanding the particular factual circumstances in which the non-performance is materialised, the promisee’s inability to achieve his aims is the only factor that defines the nature and the scope of the harms that he suffers. The non-pecuniary losses are all consequences resulting from the non-fulfilment of the promisee’s aims. This new understanding reveals the wider scope that the non-pecuniary harms can have and their much more extensive injurious effects. A complete and exhaustive description of the losses that are caused in such cases will entail an identification of all non-pecuniary aims that would had been pursued at the contractual formation and the consequent failure of their achievement.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Additional Information:	© 2019 Zlatin Mitkov Zlatev
Library of Congress subject classification:	K Law > K Law (General)
Sets:	Departments > Law
Supervisor:	Webb, Charlie and Rowan, Solene
URI:	http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/4065

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