Privity of Contract and Its Exceptions

The doctrine of privity of contract provides, in broad terms, that a contract should neither burden nor confer enforceable benefits upon parties external to the contract. Whilst many commentators have argued that privity ought not to be recognised in modern private law, this book argues that recognition of privity is vital for doctrinal clarity.
Privity of Contract and its Exceptions is the first Scottish book on the privity doctrine. It examines the historical development of privity in Scots law and assesses its relationship with various theories of contract law. The interaction between privity and delict has proved controversial, and the book seeks to explain the interface of these two distinct areas of the law.
Following an analysis of existing statutory exceptions to privity, the book offers a framework for determining when new exceptions to the doctrine should be recognised. In a series of separate chapters, it analyses concepts which have been perceived as exceptions to privity, namely, contracts for the benefit of another, transferred loss, ad hoc agency, and undisclosed agency. The final substantive chapter critically considers external network liability, a concept previously subject to very limited discussion in Scottish legal commentary, to determine whether the concept could and should be recognised in Scots law.