영국법상 계약의 당사자관계 법리에 관한 검토

The Doctrine of Privity of Contract under English Law

The doctrine of privity in the common law of contract provides that a contract cannot confer rights or impose obligations arising under it on any person or agent except the parties to it. Contracting parties, and not any third-party, can sue each other (or be sued) under the terms of the contracts. The premise is that only parties to contracts should be able to sue to enforce their rights or claim damages as such. However, the doctrine of privity has proven problematic due to its implications upon contracts made for the benefit of third parties who are unable to enforce the obligations of the contracting parties. According to this issue, this paper discusses problems of doctrine of privity of contracts. Specifically, this paper focuses on the analysis of various theories as to, especially, the right of the third party under the privity of contracts in English case law.