Bibliographie sélective OHADA

Archive institutionnelle de l'Université de Genève - Institutional Repository of the University of Geneva

Borçluların alacaklılarına zarar vermek kastıyla malvarlığını veya işletmesini devretmesi ile mücadeleye yönelik icra hukuku hükümlerinin incelendiği bu çalışmada üç ana bölüm yer almaktadır. İlk bölümde konunun kapsamını oluşturan malvarlığı, özel malvarlığı, işletme ve ticari işletme kavramları detaylı olarak tarif edilmektedir.İkinci bölümde maddi hukuk açısından, üçüncü bölümde değinilen İcra Hukuku hükümlerinin uygulanmasında önem taşıyan malvarlığı veya işletmenin devrinde devreden ve devralanın sorumluluğu açısından düzenleme getiren BK m. 179 hükmü, kaynak İsviçre ve Alman Hukukları'ndaki hükümler ile birlikte değerlendirilmektedir.Malvarlığı veya işletmesini alacaklılarına zarar vermek kastıyla devreden borçlularla mücadele olanaklarına sadece İcra Hukuku hükümlerinde yer verilmiş olması nedeniyle çalışmamızın asıl konusunu oluşturan üçüncü bölümde ise, İİK m. 280/III ve m. 44 uygulamasının olumlu ve olumsuz yanları, yargı kararları eşliğinde belirtilmektedir. There are three chapters in this work which deals with the regulations related to combating with the debtors who transfer their assets or businesses in order to harm their creditors. In the first chapter the asset, separate property, enterprise and businesses that are forming the scope of work are defined in details.In the second chapter, the Turkish Obligation Code Art. 179 that regulates the obligation of the debtors transfering their assets or businesses in order to harm their lenders is considered in light of the source law of Swiss and German regulations.For the reason that the only regulations for combating with the debtors who transfer their assets and businesses in order to harm their creditors are arranged within the Turkish Execution and Insolvency Code, in the third and the main chapter, the related articles of 280/III and 44 are considered in light of the Supreme Court decisions with their positive and negative effects.

L’économie nationale-ainsi que d’autres économies en développement –dépend de plus en plus des importations et des exportations .Aujourd’hui et à l’avenir , la prospérité de l’entreprise dépend de sa capacité de fonctionner sur le marché mondial. La mondialisation des économies accroit nettement la valeur d’information pour l’entreprise et offre de nouvelles occasions de croissance .Aujourd’hui les systèmes d’information procurent toute la puissance de communication et d’analyse dont les entreprises ont besoin pour conclure des échanges et diriger leurs affaires à l’échelle mondiale. La gestion des multinationales-la communication avec les distributeurs et fournisseurs , l’exploitation 24 heures sur 24 heures des succursales des différents pays , la satisfactions des besoins en matière de présentation des données sur les activités nationales et internationales –constitue un défi administratif considérable qui exige des réponses ultra-rapides de la part des systèmes d’information. La mondialisation et les technologies de l’information représentent aussi des menaces pour les entreprises commerciales .L e réseau planétaire de communication et les systèmes de gestion mondiaux permettent maintenant aux clients de faire leurs achats sur un marché mondial et d’obtenir des informations fiables sur les prix et la qualité des produits 24 heures sur 24 heurs . Ce phénomène ravive la concurrence et oblige les entreprises à se livrer à des échanges sur des marchés mondiaux ouverts et non protégés .Pour devenir des participants efficaces et rentables et rentables sur les marchés internationaux , les entreprises ont besoin des systèmes d’information et de communication puissants . Dans cet article, nous allons , d’abord , définir les principaux facteurs qui sous-tendent la mondialisation croissante des affaires et comparer les stratégies mondiales visant l’expansion et les développement de l’entreprise ; ensuite , nous montrons comment les systèmes d’information et les technologies de l’information soutiennent les différentes stratégies mondiales et comment planifier le développement des systèmes d’information internationaux . Enfin , nous allons évaluer les principales solutions techniques possibles pour la mise au point de systèmes internationaux .

O presente trabalho visa analisar em que medida a alteração das circunstâncias negociais que levem à situação de onerosidade excessiva prevista pelo Código Civil produz efeitos sobre a utilidade que as partes derivam dos contratos de engineering, considerados estes como contratos que têm por objeto o desenvolvimento de projetos industriais e de infraestrutura de grande porte. Situa esses contratos em seu contexto histórico e social, descrevendo seus principais elementos de distinção, especialmente a complexidade e risco das operações econômicas que lhes é subjacente e os qualifica como contratos socialmente típicos, sujeitos ao regime dos contratos de empreitada. A tese discute a adequação do tratamento jurisprudencial que vem sendo dado à onerosidade excessiva e descreve os esquemas negociais geralmente usados em tais contratos para fins de alocação de riscos. Finalmente, a tese discute a aplicação de modelos da Análise Econômica do Direito, como a Teoria dos Contratos Incompletos, como subsídio para a valoração de aplicabilidade das normas sobre onerosidade excessiva aos contratos de engineering e análise dos efeitos de sua aplicação sobre esses contratos.

Le pharmacien d’hier évoque l’image d’un professionnel passif, contraint d’exécuter fidèlement le traitement pharmacologique prescrit au patient par le médecin. Aujourd’hui, par contraste, la complexité des médicaments, le développement de la science et de la technologie, de même que les revendications croissantes des consommateurs ont contribué à un renouvellement des valeurs véhiculées par la profession pharmaceutique. Sur le plan de la responsabilité, l’étude du rapport contractuel entre le pharmacien et ses clients/patients met à jour un étrange paradoxe. D’un côté, la population revendique une relation davantage personnalisée avec le pharmacien ; de l’autre, les modes contemporains de distribution des produits de santé véhiculent des attitudes consuméristes ancrées dans la dépersonnalisation progressive de ce même rapport contractuel (i.e. Internet). Ces nouveaux paramètres créent une tension sur les principes traditionnels qui posent les paramètres de la responsabilité contractuelle du pharmacien. D’abord, ils invitent à une redéfinition du contenu obligationnel du contrat au regard de l’obligation d’information dont ces derniers sont progressivement débiteurs. Ensuite, les modalités de l’échange commercial contemporain posent le défi de préciser la portée des obligations déontologiques qui s’imposent aux pharmaciens dans l’acte de distribution à distance de médicaments, et ce, en l’absence d’une rencontre physique ayant eu lieu avec le patient. Enfin, le thème de l’indemnisation du préjudice corporel causé par le fait des médicaments défectueux invite à une analyse de la responsabilité du pharmacien en tant que sujet débiteur de l’obligation de qualité, tant au regard du C.c.Q. que de la L.p.c.. L’auteure conclut que ce fondement pluriel de la responsabilité contractuelle du pharmacien est principalement configuré par l’exigence (ou non) d’une ordonnance médicale. The pharmacist of yesteryear evokes the image of a passive professional, constrained to faithfully dispensing the medications prescribed by a physician. Today, however, the complexity of medications, the development of science and technology and the increasing demands of consumers have all contributed to the renewal of the fundamental values of the pharmaceutical profession. In terms of liability, an analysis of the contractual relationship between the pharmacist and his or her client/patient brings to light a paradoxical situation. One the one hand, patients appear to require a more personalized relationship with the pharmacist; yet on the other, contemporary modes of distributing drugs and healthcare products encourage consumerist attitudes resulting from the growing depersonalization of this very same contractual relationship (e.g. the purchase of medication on the internet). This new paradigm places stresses on the traditional principles underlying the contractual liability of the pharmacist. To begin with, it invites a redefinition of the obligational content in light of the duty to inform to which pharmacists are increasingly subjected. Moreover, the very characteristics of this contract are indicative of a need to better define the deontological duties imposed on pharmacists when dispensing medications to persons not physically present. Finally, product liability issues stemming from defective drugs invite further further analysis of a pharmacist’s responsibility as debtor of an obligation to ensure quality under both the Civil Code of Quebec and the Consumer Protection Act. The writer concludes that this multifaceted basis of a pharmacist’s contractual liability is determined primarily according to whether or not a a physician’s prescription is required.

Tezimizin konusu ?Kambiyo Senetlerinde Sebepsiz Zenginleşme?dir. Kambiyo senetlerinde sebepsiz zenginleşme müessesesi TTK m.644'te düzenlenmiştir. TTK m.644'e göre keşideci ve kabul etmiş muhatap, hamilin poliçedeki hakkını zamanaşımı ya da poliçedeki hakkı koruyucu işlemleri kaybetmesi sebebiyle poliçedeki borcu ödemek yükümlülüklerinden kurtulmuş olsa dahi sebepsiz zenginleşme hükümleri ile takip edilebilirler. TTK m.644'te düzenlenmiş olan kambiyo senetlerinde sebepsiz zenginleşme müessesesi kambiyo senedindeki asıl alacak ile genel hükümlerde yer alan sebepsiz zenginleşme talebinden bağımsız kendine özgü bir talebi içermektedir. TTK m.644 TTK m.730 gereği çekler hakkında da uygulanır. TTK m.690'da açık bir atıf olmamasına rağmen bonolara da uygulanabilmelidir. TTK m.644'ün uygulanabilmesi için hamilin zarara uğraması şarttır. Hamilin zararı iki sebebe dayanmalıdır. Bunlar, zamanaşımı ve hamilin poliçedeki hakkı koruyucu işlemlerin yerine getirilmemesidir. Zamanaşımı süreleri kambiyo senetlerinin türlerine ve kambiyo senetlerindeki alacaklı ve borçluların kimliklerine göre değişik süreler olarak TTK'da tespit edilmiştir. Hamilin poliçeyi muhataba kabul için arz etmemesi, ödenmek üzere ibraz etmemesi ya da gerektiğinde protesto keşidesinin gerçekleştirilmemesi poliçedeki hakkın kaybına yol açan hakkı koruyucu işlemler olarak kabul edilmektedir. Hamilin poliçedeki hakkını kaybetmesi neticesinde borçtan kurtulan borçlular zenginleşmiş olarak kabul edilirler. Kambiyo senetlerinde sebepsiz zenginleşme talebine dayanan dava mutlak ticari davadır. Görevli ve yetkili mahkeme Ticaret Hukuku, Borçlar Hukuku Usul Hukuku prensipleri birlikte değerlendirilerek tespit edilmelidir. Ve bu davaya uygulanacak zamanaşımı süresi hakkında doktrinde ve mahkeme kararlarındaki ihtilaf bu konudaki boşluğun kanun koyucu tarafından doldurularak giderilmelidir. [...] Tezimizin konusu ?Kambiyo Senetlerinde Sebepsiz Zenginleşme?dir. Kambiyo senetlerinde sebepsiz zenginleşme müessesesi TTK m.644'te düzenlenmiştir. TTK m.644'e göre keşideci ve kabul etmiş muhatap, hamilin poliçedeki hakkını zamanaşımı ya da poliçedeki hakkı koruyucu işlemleri kaybetmesi sebebiyle poliçedeki borcu ödemek yükümlülüklerinden kurtulmuş olsa dahi sebepsiz zenginleşme hükümleri ile takip edilebilirler. TTK m.644'te düzenlenmiş olan kambiyo senetlerinde sebepsiz zenginleşme müessesesi kambiyo senedindeki asıl alacak ile genel hükümlerde yer alan sebepsiz zenginleşme talebinden bağımsız kendine özgü bir talebi içermektedir. TTK m.644 TTK m.730 gereği çekler hakkında da uygulanır. TTK m.690'da açık bir atıf olmamasına rağmen bonolara da uygulanabilmelidir. TTK m.644'ün uygulanabilmesi için hamilin zarara uğraması şarttır. Hamilin zararı iki sebebe dayanmalıdır. Bunlar, zamanaşımı ve hamilin poliçedeki hakkı koruyucu işlemlerin yerine getirilmemesidir. Zamanaşımı süreleri kambiyo senetlerinin türlerine ve kambiyo senetlerindeki alacaklı ve borçluların kimliklerine göre değişik süreler olarak TTK'da tespit edilmiştir. Hamilin poliçeyi muhataba kabul için arz etmemesi, ödenmek üzere ibraz etmemesi ya da gerektiğinde protesto keşidesinin gerçekleştirilmemesi poliçedeki hakkın kaybına yol açan hakkı koruyucu işlemler olarak kabul edilmektedir. Hamilin poliçedeki hakkını kaybetmesi neticesinde borçtan kurtulan borçlular zenginleşmiş olarak kabul edilirler. Kambiyo senetlerinde sebepsiz zenginleşme talebine dayanan dava mutlak ticari davadır. Görevli ve yetkili mahkeme Ticaret Hukuku, Borçlar Hukuku Usul Hukuku prensipleri birlikte değerlendirilerek tespit edilmelidir. Ve bu davaya uygulanacak zamanaşımı süresi hakkında doktrinde ve mahkeme kararlarındaki ihtilaf bu konudaki boşluğun kanun koyucu tarafından doldurularak giderilmelidir. The title of this thesies is "Unjustified Enrichment in Commercial Papers". The concept of Unjustified Enrichment in Commercial Papers was regulated in TTK (Code of Turkish Commerce) article 644. According to TTK article 644, drawer and drawee who accepted the bill of exchange, can be fallowed by unjustified enrichment regulations even the holder looses the rights in commercial papers because of prescription and negligence for saving the rights in commercial papers. The concept of unjustified enrichment which was regulated in TTK article 644 consists of independent, exceptional, and sui generis demand against the general regulations in Code of Obligations and basic relations in the commercial papers. TTK article 644 can be applied for the cheques because of the special rule in TTK article 730. TTK article 644 should be able to be applied for the promissory notes eventhough there is not any special rule in TTK article 690. For TTK article 644?s ability to apply holder should have a damage. And this damage must have one of two limited reasons. These are prescription and the negligence for saving the rights in commercial papers. Prescription timings were determinated according to the changing of the commercial papers? kinds and the the holders? and debtors? identities in the Turkish Commercial Code. If holder does not supply the bills of exchange to the drawee for acceptance or if holder does not supply the commercial paper for payment or if required, protesting is not cared by the holder, the debt gets lost. The result of the holder?s loss of the rights in commercial papers is the enrichment of the debtors. The case which is related to unjustified enrichment is the perfect commercial case. Authorized and charged court should be determinated by focusing the principles in Commercial Law, Obligation Law and Procedure Law. And the conflict for the prescription timings in scientific and courting decisions should be solved by the law maker.

Dans l'Union européenne, la notion de contrat de services a pris place au cœur du règlement des conflits de juridictions, et oriente la réflexion en matière de conflit de lois. Elle est en passe de devenir une catégorie du droit international privé, dans l'un des domaines en apparence épuisé et pourtant fondamental de cette discipline : celui du contrat. Cette évolution, confirmée par la récente proposition dite " directive Bolkestein ", ouvre des perspectives nouvelles et soulève toute une série de questions inédites, étudiées à la lumière des droits communautaire, français et néerlandais. C'est donc à l'analyse de cette notion en construction du contrat de services que la première partie de la thèse est consacrée. L'étude défend l'idée qu'en droit français, la définition de l'internationalité des services pose problème, car il n'est pas aussi facile d'identifier un passage de services au travers de la frontière qu'un mouvement de biens. Le droit communautaire recourt à une notion plutôt large : déplacement de l'une des deux parties au contrat et pas seulement des services transfrontaliers. Il semble mieux appréhender leur internationalité. La notion de contrat de services demeure donc autonome en droit international privé, y compris par rapport au – ou au sein même du – droit communautaire, puisqu'elle dépend du texte à interpréter. Les conventions de droit international privé attestent de l'affinité qu'entretient le contrat ayant pour objet des services portant sur un meuble, avec la qualification de vente. Au contraire, les contrats ayant pour objet des services portant sur un immeuble ressortiraient pleinement de la qualification de services. De cette notion en construction procède un régime du contrat de services en voie d'unification, objet de la deuxième partie de la thèse qui prend également quelques distances avec le droit positif. L'influence grandissante de la libre prestation de services communautaire, et ceci plus encore si la directive Bolkestein venait à être adoptée, pourrait bien élever la présomption de la " loi du prestataire " au rang de véritable principe : celui du pays d'origine. En définitive, la loi du prestataire ne se verrait court-circuitée que par l'autonomie de la volonté ou par les lois de police, notamment communautaires, auxquelles se cantonnent les mécanismes d'éviction. Quant au juge compétent, le Règlement Bruxelles I opère une simplification allant dans le sens de l'unification soutenue jusqu'alors, puisqu'il aide à l'interprétation des textes internes ou influence les législateurs nationaux. En effet, outre le juge du domicile du défendeur, le juge alternativement compétent est celui du lieu de livraison de la chose, objet des services, ou – si les services sont immatériels – celui du lieu de leur fourniture.

Depuis une vingtaine d’années, les humains utilisent la technique numérique pour nouer des relations à l’occasion desquelles peuvent se créer des liens juridiques. Parmi ceux-ci, le contrat de vente occupe une place importante. Traditionnellement, lorsque les contractants relèvent d’ordres juridiques différents, leurs rapports sont régis par le droit international privé. Celui-ci permet de déterminer d’une part quelle autorité pourra éventuellement être appelée à trancher les litiges et d’autre part quelles règles de droit seront appliquées pour y apporter une solution. Ce travail de recherche vise à vérifier si les règles de droit international privé régissant les ventes classiques peuvent être transposées aux contrats de vente cyberspatiaux. En d’autres termes, il s’agit d’en vérifier l’utilité et l’efficacité dans un monde dématérialisé et qui ignore les notions de frontières et de territorialité.

Il est devenu commun de dire que notre société se transforme inexorablement en une société dite de « l'information ». Cette transformation se caractérise entre autres par une utilisation accrue des technologies de l’information afin de communiquer, d’échanger ou de transiger. Les supports traditionnels de communication (tel que le papier) cèdent progressivement leur place à de nouveaux supports technologiques favorisant l’efficacité et la rapidité des échanges, et par la même occasion le développement du commerce électronique. Qu’on le souhaite ou non, un constat s’impose : la montée en puissance des réseaux virtuels a eu raison du monopole du papier. Sur le plan juridique, cette nouvelle réalité bouleverse aussi considérablement les règles de droit civil largement pensées et ancrées dans un contexte papier. L’avènement de la numérisation et du phénomène de la dématérialisation des supports ont effectivement soulevé plusieurs questions d’ordre juridique tout à fait nouvelles que nous pourrions résumer de la manière suivante : Quels sont les rapports entre l’écrit et son support autre que le papier? Quelles sont les caractéristiques de l’écrit faisant appel aux technologies de l’information? Ce type d’écrit peut-il être admis en tant que moyen de preuve? Si oui, quelle sera sa force probante? Ce type d’écrit doit-il être conservé? Le présent mémoire vise précisément à identifier certains éléments de réponses à ces diverses questions en étudiant spécifiquement les cadres juridiques français et québécois. Ce mémoire traite d’une part des enjeux liés à l’évolution et au rôle de l’écrit face à l’avènement des technologies de l’information et d’autre part du cadre juridique de la preuve et de la conservation de l’écrit dans la société de l’information.

The commercial lease has historically been treated as a conveyance of an interest in land which creates a property-based relationship between the lessor and lessee, despite the fact that the relationship is created by contract and could be seen as a contract for the ongoing use of the land. Some Canadian cases, however, have applied "partial contractualization " — using both property and contract rules and concepts to interpret leases. The article examines the historical development of the lease and its treatment in Canadian courts, as well as in other common law courts. The authors argue that the property/contract hybrid should be eliminated in favour of "complete contractualization " — using pure contract principles to interpret the commercial lease. The article points out how contract principles would serve the parties to the lease just as well, or better, than property principles and offers solutions for the anticipated problem area of security of tenure for the tenant.

The concepts public policy and public interest often obtain an imprecise content as a criterion for contractual justice in South African law. The consequence of this is some degree of legal uncertainty. This is the problem raised in the present dissertation. From the cases and literature the causes of the problem became clearer and it became evident that the correct basis to deal with this problem is the systematisation of this sphere of the law of contract, which also implies the circumspect dealing with concepts. This was confirmed by the examination of a number of foreign legal systems. It appeared moreover that in these systems too, general criteria are used to evaluate contractual justice, namely: in German law the concepts gute Sitten and Treu und Glauben, in Dutch law the concepts goede zeden, openbare orde, as well as redelijkheid en billijkheid (goede trouw) and in English law the concept public policy and possibly in future also the concept good faith. The foreign systems furthermore provided some solutions regarding the practical implementation of the systematisation. The proposed systematisation firstly implies that public policy and public interest should be understood correctly as a general criterion in this sphere, which means that it has a normative character as well as a flexible nature, which necessarily causes some degree of legal uncertainty. It also implies that public policy and public interest - correctly orientated - should be seen as pivotal to one of the requirements for a valid contract, which is traditionally known as the requirement of legality, but which probably should rather be known as the requirement of lawfulness. This requirement should in addition be understood in a broad sense as also relating to the effect of contracts, and consequently to contractual justice, seen as the relative balance between the interests of the parties. The systematisation furthermore includes the understanding that in this sphere a judge has a limited discretion in exercising a law-creating power. The discretion is limited, especially to prevent a judge from reaching a decision on account of a purely subjective opinion. Regarding this limited discretion an established system of guidelines currently does not exist in South African law, but in the present dissertation a step in this direction was made. The gist of these guidelines is that the nature and the context of the relevant contract or contract term should be observed. The individual case should, however, not be over-emphasised, since that may lead to a superabundance of legal uncertainty and to the misuse of public policy and public interest as a defence. Regarding practical application the systematisation includes in short that various facets of public policy and public interest are distinguished, namely legislation and common law, established views and customs (boni mores), and thirdly public policy and public interest as such, concretised by the concept good faith as the underlying principle. It is submitted that the proposed systematisation could contribute to decreasing the imprecise use of the concepts public policy and public interest and concomitant legal uncertainty.

Face à la mondialisation qui permet l'universalisation du marché et est favorable à la libéralisation des échanges quinze États d'Afrique francophone, ayant une tradition juridique commune, ont, pour instaurer un environnement juridique et judiciaire propice à leurs activités économiques, créé le 17 octobre 1993, à l'île Maurice un Traité portant Organisation pour l'Harmonisation en Afrique du Droit des Affaires (OHADA). Ce Traité tire son originalité de la spécificité de son objectif fondamental, de l'ampleur de l'intégration communautaire qu'il propose et de la particularité des méthodes et moyens retenus. Au plan juridique, le Traité dispose que les actes pris pour l'adoption de règles communes sont qualifiés d'actes uniformes : cinq matières du domaine du droit des affaires ont déjà fait l'objet d'actes uniformes. Ces actes ont introduit de nombreuses innovations au droit des affaires. Au plan judiciaire la Cour commune de justice et d'arbitrage est consultée pour l'interprétation et l'application de tous les textes du droit harmonisé.

This is a collection of essays about the restraint of trade doctrine as laid down in the courts of the United Kingdom and the British Commonwealth. Generally, I will not give an account of the restraint of trade doctrine in the United States of America, for even although each individual state (apart from the civil jurisdictions California and Louisiana) and the federation itself, has a common law system, for reasons peculiar to those jurisdictions, the restraint of trade case law there has become so vast and so confused as to be unsuitable for my purposes. More importantly, however, the common law restraint of trade doctrine in the United Kingdom and the British Commonwealth has been laid down by courts without any significant consideration of the state of the law in the United States. Davies v Davies (1887) 36 Ch D 359, 370 by contrast, the period during which the Privy Council operated as a supra national court of final appeal has resulted in considerable harmony in the doctrine within the British Commonwealth. Even now the House of Lords is influential in Australia and Canada and the influence is increasingly reciprocal. By way of an exception I will discuss the purposes of the anti-trust legislation in the United States. This is necessary because I intend to show that the common law restraint of trade doctrine was not able to be, and was never intended to be, a means of regulating the economy in contradistinction to the United States anti-trust legislation and related legislation in the British Commonwealth. This account is not merely a description of the law relating to the restraint of trade doctrine although I do purport to describe the law. There are other accounts of the restraint of trade doctrine which do that well. Accounts of the restraint of trade doctrine include: Matthews & Adler, The Law Relating to Covenants in Restraints of Trade (London, 2nd ed 1907); Sanderson, Restraint of Trade in English law (London, 1926); Heydon, The Restraint of Trade Doctrine (London, 1971); Trebilcock, The Common Law of Restraint of Trade; A Legal and Economic Analysis (Toronto, 1986); Dean, The Law of Trade Secrets (Sydney, 1990); Mehigan & Griffiths, Restraint of Trade and Business Secrets: Law & Practice (London, 2nd ed 1991); Holdsworth, History of English Law IV (3rd ed, 1945) 343-54, 373-9; VIII (2nd ed, 1937) 56-42. There are other, less detailed accounts in contract law textbooks. The purpose of this dissertation is to describe aspects of the doctrine as it developed between the medieval period and the twentieth century and then to use that account as a basis for an analysis of how the law has taken a number of paths during the twentieth century which cannot be justified by the rules and their justifications which existed in the law prior to that time. Such a development has had important consequences for the restraint of trade doctrine and even the law in general, most of which have been detrimental. I do not intend to give a continuous historical narrative covering the whole of the doctrine. The history has been described before. For example, I do not intend to give a discrete account of the process by which the absolute rule against general restraints of trade gave way to the rule of reason, although I do mention this process where relevant for other purposes. The history, so far as it is relevant, is integrated into each chapter. I will argue that historically the restraint of trade doctrine was a rule or complex of rules, of a certain form and content. The form and content of the rule are important because they bear on the meaning of the class term "restraint of trade" which is an element of the rule. The meaning of that term began to change around the year 1890. Beginning first with certain classes of trade combination, courts began to classify as restraints of trade covenants which did not in fact restrain trade. Then the courts similarly treated the exclusive dealing contract and certain forms of property transaction. Another trend in the law which added to the confusion about the meaning of restraint of trade was the failure by the courts to make definitive findings one way or another as to whether a particular covenant was in restraint of trade. The courts were then faced with a dilemma. The law required a court to refuse to enforce a covenant in restraint of trade unless the covenantee could justify the restraint by presenting evidence to the court from which the courts could assess whether or not that particular restraint was within the reason for the restraint of trade doctrine or not. Such considerations were entirely inapt in the case of covenants which, in accordance with the traditional view, did not restrain trade. Yet if the courts did not validate these contracts, catastrophic consequences would have followed for the parties to such contracts and, indeed, to contract as an institution. To solve the dilemma the courts began to interpret the famous statement of the restraint of trade doctrine by Lord Macnaghten in Nordenfelt v Maxim Nordenfelt Guns & Ammunition Co [1894] AC 535, 565 (HL) literally, rather than contextually. Ultimately this has resulted in the obscuring of the rule underlying the restraint of trade doctrine itself. There were many minor confusions along the way. It is important that the doctrine is coherent and its use consistent with its justifications because it is still a fruitful cause of legal change. In the last year the force of the rule has caused a radical restructuring of Association Football in Europe Bosman’s case. The rule has even penetrated the collective consciousness of the community at large. The broad thrust of the development and the detail will be outlined in the next thirteen chapters.