'Contract law in Ireland' (5th Ed.) Robert Clarke (Thomson Round Hall, 2004)

• Author: Rachael Hession
• Position: B.Comm, LL.B, AITI, Solicitor, Lecturer in Law, Faculty of Law, National University of Ireland, Galway
• Pages: 302-307

BOOK REVIEW

“CONTRACT LAW IN IRELAND” (5th Ed.)

Robert Clarke

(Thomson Round Hall, 2004)

RACHAEL HESSION*

Contractual situations arenot confined to the realms of

commercial and conveyancing. They are a feature of everyday life.

The existence or non-existence of a contract has serious

consequences. Therefore, the principles and rules to determine

whether a contract has concluded, on what terms if a binding

contract has been entered into and the remedies available to those

injured by a breach of a contract are of paramount importance. A

reader of a publication on contract law should clearly understand

these principles on completion of his study.

This is the fifth edition of RobertClarke’spublication. As the

author points out, the law has moved on since the last edition. It has

changed substantially, as a result of case law and legislative

developments. The book deals comprehensively with the effect

electronic commerce and consumer protection has on the law of

contract, providing a detailed analysis of the relevant legislation. The

author fully explores recent important Irish and English case law for

explaining and illustrating the relevant principles of contract law

and the courts’ approach to the application and development of

these principles. Moreover,he carries out a comparative study with

relevant Canadian, Australian and New Zealand cases.

The author has taken the opportunity of a new edition to

incorporate a substantial body of new material and to rewrite and

expand several chapters. The book is divided into nine parts/twenty

chapters.

The first partfocuses primarily on the essential elements of a

contract: the Rules of Offer and Acceptance, The Doctrine of

302 [5:1Judicial Studies Institute Journal

*B.Comm, LL.B, AITI, Solicitor, Lecturer in Law, Faculty of Law, National University of

Ireland, Galway.