Comparative Reflections in Private Law celebrates the scholarly legacy of Professor Simon Whittaker, whose work has left a profound mark on the field of comparative law. Reflecting the breadth and depth of his influence, the volume brings together leading scholars to explore central themes in private law from a comparative perspective.
The volume is split into three distinct parts. The first part of the volume focuses on contract law, examining topics ranging from defects in the formation of a contract, interpretation, illegality, the doctrine of change of circumstances, and remedies. These chapters reflect Whittaker's commitment to doctrinal precision, analytical depth, and the value of comparative law as a means of understanding other legal traditions and re-examining one's own with a fresh perspective. The second part turns to tort law, with contributions exploring topics such as the role of violation of a right, the concept of foreseeability, the justifications for the non-recoverability of pure economic loss, and the treatment of illegality in product liability. These essays engage critically with fundamental concepts while also offering comparative insights into the functions and structure of tort law, an approach that reflects Whittaker's distinctive ability to draw deep connections between legal systems, both in their doctrinal rules and in the principles and goals that underpin them. The final part of the volume turns to private law intersections, addressing challenges that cut across traditional boundaries, such as the doctrine of the subsidiarity of unjustified enrichment and the difficulty of devising harmonized contract law in the European Union from the plurality of laws and languages of the Member States.
Taken together, the contributions included in this volume highlight the distinctive blend of intellectual rigour, curiosity, and openness to both tradition and innovation, which has so distinctively characterized Simon Whittaker's scholarship.
Marco Cappelletti, Tutorial Fellow in Law, Worcester College, Oxford University, Ciara Kennefick, Associate Professor of Law, Oxford University, Dorota Leczykiewicz, Associate Professor of Law, Oxford University
Marco Cappelletti is a Tutorial Fellow in Law at Worcester College, University of Oxford. His research interests lie in private law, particularly tort law and tort theory, and in comparative law. He is author of
Justifying Strict Liability: A Comparative Analysis in Legal Reasoning (OUP), which received the Canada Prize of the International Academy of Comparative Law in 2022. His current research explores foundational aspects of private law, including the justifications for vicarious liability, the concept of foreseeability, the doctrine of remoteness of damage, and the different standards of liability in the context of accidental harm.
Ciara Kennefick is Associate Professor of Law at the University of Oxford and Official Student (Tutorial Fellow) in Law at Christ Church, Oxford. She also holds a Visiting Professorship at Université Paris-Panthéon-Assas, and a Visiting Fellowship at the Stockholm Centre for Commercial Law at the University of Stockholm. Her research examines private law from comparative and historical perspectives. She is particularly interested in the just price in contracts, an idea which is derived from Roman law. In 2020, she was awarded the Selden Society's David Yale Prize 2019 for her research on the legal history of England and Wales.
Dorota Leczykiewicz is Associate Professor of Law at the University of Oxford and Official Fellow in Law at St Peter's College. Her research focuses on judicial reasoning, comparative tort law and EU constitutional and private law. Dr Leczykiewicz's most recent work has concerned comparison between English and French tort law, EU tort law, theorising judge-made law, evaluating the reasoning of the Court of Justice of the EU, the use of general principles in EU law, and horizontality of EU fundamental rights. In 2021-2024 she was Associate Dean for Graduate Studies (Taught Courses) in the Oxford Faculty of Law.
