Bradgate's Commercial Law provides comprehensive coverage of the principles of commercial law alongside critical discussion. It offers rigorous in-depth analysis and a modern, contextual approach which draws links to the practice of commercial law. This edition includes new chapters on international trade, foreign investment, and the future trajectory of the subject. There is expanded coverage of territorial matters, the law of the sea, and maritime delimitation, with the aim to reflect advances in the area. Also, chapters have been updated to include detailed explanation of topics such as international organisations, international environmental law, the law of treaties, and legal subjects. All chapters have been revised to incorporate new developments and all major judgments in the area.
Chapter
26. The Nature And Structure Of International Trade
This chapter considers the nature and structure of international trade. It cites that trade carried on across national boundaries since ancient times, but the volume of international trade in modern times increased dramatically. Generally, the expression of ‘international trade law’ refers to the law which applies to international trade transactions. The chapter considers the sources and development of international trade law, particularly English law relating to international sale contracts. It also provides an illustration of an international sale transaction composed of several contracts, while also having the sale of contract at its heart, to consider the stage of a typical transaction.
Book
Eric Baskind, Greg Osborne, and Lee Roach
Commercial Law offers a fresh, modern, and stimulating account of the subject, thereby helping students better understand this important area of law. It provides thorough coverage of all key aspects of the syllabus, including the law of agency, the sale of goods, international trade, and methods of payment, finance, and security. A range of learning features is employed throughout the book to encourage understanding of the law, and to demonstrate how the principles behind it play out in practical domestic and international commercial transactions. Practical, fictional case studies are referred to in example boxes throughout the book, demonstrating the types of legal issues and problems that the law is intended to regulate, and helping students to understand the context and practical application of the law. The book includes: regular case boxes throughout the text to highlight cases of importance, providing a succinct account of the material facts of the case, a clear account of the court’s decision and reasoning, and, where appropriate, commentary on the decision; key legislation boxes to help students understand which statutory provisions are of fundamental importance; and definitions of key terms, which appear in the margins the first time the term is used, thus ensuring that students are not confused by the terminology of the subject.
Chapter
15. International sales
D Fox, RJC Munday, B Soyer, AM Tettenborn, and PG Turner
This chapter examines the rules of English law governing international commercial sales, a subject of disproportionate importance because of the surprisingly large proportion of international trade carried on under contracts governed by English law by choice of the parties. Contracts of this type expose the parties to greater risks than purely domestic sales. The chapter gives detailed coverage of typical export transactions and INCOTERMS, both marine and non-marine, including FOB contracts, FAS contracts, CIF contracts and variants of the CIF contract, and DAP contracts as well as FCA, CIP, and similar contracts. Likely future developments are also mentioned.
Chapter
19. Bills of exchange
D Fox, RJC Munday, B Soyer, AM Tettenborn, and PG Turner
This chapter focuses on bills of exchange, especially in the context of international trade. It first provides an overview of how bills of exchange are used as a method of payment before discussing the relevant provisions of the Bills of Exchange Act 1882. It then considers the definition of a bill of exchange, how a bill of exchange is transferred, and persons entitled to the benefit of the obligation on the bill. It also examines the general principles governing liability on the bill of exchange as well as the enforcement and discharge of the bill. Finally, it looks at mistaken payment, focusing on cases where the payment was received in good faith and in ignorance of the mistake.
Chapter
21. The financing of international trade
D Fox, RJC Munday, B Soyer, AM Tettenborn, and PG Turner
This chapter examines the methods used to finance international trade. The method chosen will in practice greatly depend on the seller’s confidence in the integrity and solvency of the buyer, as well as on the bargaining strengths of the respective parties. The chapter discusses the traditionally most common methods of payment, such as documentary bills, documentary credits, standby credits, performance bonds, and guarantees, together with more modern developments such as Bank Payment Obligations or BPOs. The coverage also includes other financing methods such as forfaiting and financial leasing before concluding with an overview of export credit guarantees.
Chapter
29. Financing international trade
This chapter covers the financing of international trade. It details the nature, essential characteristics, and stages of documentary credit transaction, wherein the buyer is required to enter into an arrangement with a bank whereby the bank gives the seller an undertaking to pay the price due under a contract. Essentially, the documentary credit is ideal as a payment guarantee, particularly in contracts of sale. However, other breaches may take place, such as failing to deliver or extensive losses to the buyer. The chapter then offers different performance guarantee arrangements which share features of the documentary credit while securing the performance of obligations other than financial payment.
