The Role of Common Law &(And) Equity in the New
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SMU Law Review Volume 54 Issue 2 Article 4 2001 Preemption & (and) Supplementation under Revised 1-103: The Role of Common Law &(and) Equity in the New U.C.C. Sarah Howard Jenkins Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.smu.edu/smulr Recommended Citation Sarah Howard Jenkins, Preemption & (and) Supplementation under Revised 1-103: The Role of Common Law &(and) Equity in the New U.C.C., 54 SMU L. REV. 495 (2001) https://scholar.smu.edu/smulr/vol54/iss2/4 This Symposium is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at SMU Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in SMU Law Review by an authorized administrator of SMU Scholar. For more information, please visit http://digitalrepository.smu.edu. PREEMPTION & SUPPLEMENTATION UNDER REVISED 1-103: THE ROLE OF COMMON LAW & EQUITY IN THE NEW U.C.C. Sarah Howard Jenkins* NALOGIZED as being as central to the U.C.C. as a "hub" is to a wheel, Article 1 is an integral part of the Uniform Commercial Code.' Called a "sleeper" article by some and "inconsequential" by others, the provisions of Article 1 should instead be viewed as a "silent stalker" lurking in the shadows of every transaction and as relevant to the transaction as the applicable article.2 Although it is an extremely short article, the revision of Article 1 is a significant undertaking; the resulting product will impact all commercial transactions within the scope of one of the specific articles.3 One of the Article's rules of construction is of para- mount significance in understanding the rights and obligations of com- mercial parties but is often overlooked. This provision, Section 1-103, has been the focus of attention by the Revised Article 1 Drafting Committee. Section 1-103 authorizes the supplementation of the U.C.C. provisions with principles of both common law and equity unless those principles are displaced. * Sarah Howard Jenkins is a Professor of Law, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, William H. Bowen School of Law; Chair of the American Bar Association Subcom- mittee on U.C.C. Article 1 (1996-2000); B.A., 1969 Hanover College; M.A., 1970, J.D. 1982, University of Kentucky. The author wishes to thank research assistants, Candi Pig- gee Hoskins, J.D. University of Arkansas at Little Rock, William H. Bowen School of Law 2001, for her assistance on Part I and Lea Ann Jones, J.D. University of Arkansas at Little Rock, William H. Bowen School of Law 2001, for her assistance on "manifest unreasona- bleness" for Part III, and Professor M. Eugene Mullins for his comments on a prior draft of this article. 1. MILLER & CILKE, THE ABC's OF THE U.C.C., ARTICLE 1: GENERAL PROVISIONS xi (1997). 2. Robert S. Summers, General Equitable Principles Under Section 1-103 of the Uni- form Commercial Code, 72 Nw. U. L. REV. 906, 945 (1978). Revised Section 1-102 specifi- cally limits the application of the U.C.C. to transactions within the scope of one of the individual substantive articles. See U.C.C. Revised § 1-102 Scope of Article (2000) [herein- after proposed Revised Article 1 will be cited as § R 1-xxx (2000)] . "This article applies to a transaction that is governed by any other article of the [Uniform Commercial Code]." U.C.C. § 1-102 (2000) (brackets in original). 3. See generally James J. White, The Effect of Section 1-102(3) and 1-103 on Commer- cial Agreements Involving U.C.C. Transactions: Should They Be Revised?, ALI-ABA course of study, "The Emerged and Emerging New Uniform Commercial Code" (Decem- ber 8-10, 1994) (addressing the impact of Sections 1-102(3) and 1-103 on agreements sub- ject to U.C.C. Article 5). SMU LAW REVIEW [Vol. 54 U.C.C. § 1-103. Supplementary General Principles of Law Applicable. Unless displaced by the particular provisions of this Act, the princi- ples of law and equity, including the law merchant and the law rela- tive to capacity to contract, principal and agent, estoppel, fraud, misrepresentation, duress, coercion, mistake, bankruptcy, or other 4 validating or invalidating cause shall supplement its provisions. Courts have taken diverging positions in construing the purpose and function of Section 1-103 and the resulting applicability of principles of common law and equity to a commercial transaction within the ambit of the U.C.C. Comment 1 to Section 1-103 acknowledges the continued ap- plicability of all supplemental bodies of law "except insofar as they are explicitly displaced" by the Act.5 When are principles of common law and equity displaced by the provisions of the U.C.C.? The courts are not in agreement. What doctrinal perspective have courts followed for resolving the question of displacement? What doctrinal perspective should a court follow for resolving the question of displacement? In the early drafting stages of the revision, the Drafting Committee revised the comment to Section 1-103 to delete the "explicitly displaced" language. 6 Removing the "explicitly displaced" language eliminated an apparent contradiction between the goals of Section 1-102(3)7 and com- ment 1 of Section 1-103. The goals of Section 1-102 mandate a construc- tion of the U.C.C. provision so as to modernize commercial law; to permit the continued expansion of the U.C.C. as commercial and indus- trial custom, usage and agreement expand; and a construction that engen- ders uniformity among jurisdictions rather than the continued 4. U.C.C. § 1-103 (1999). 5. U.C.C. § 1-103, cmt. 1 (1999). 6. Id. Section 1-103 states: While this section indicates the continued applicability to commercial con- tracts of all supplemental bodies of law except insofar as they are explicitly displaced by this Act, the principle has been stated in more detail and the phrasing enlarged to make it clear that the "validating," as well as the "inval- idating" causes referred to in the prior uniform statutory provisions, are in- cluded here. "Validating" as used here in conjunction with "invalidating" is not intended as a narrow word confined to original validation, but extends to cover any factor which at any time or in any manner renders or helps to render valid any right or transaction. Id. (emphasis added). 7. U.C.C. § 1-102. Purposes; Rules of Construction; Variation by Agreement. (1) This Act shall be liberally construed and applied to promote its underly- ing purposes and policies. (2) Underlying purposes and policies of this Act are (a) to simplify, clarify and modernize the law governing commercial transactions; (b) to permit the continued expansion of commercial practices through custom, usage and agreement of the parties; (c) to make uniform the law among the various jurisdictions. (3) The effect of provisions of this Act may be varied by agreement, except as otherwise provided in this Act and except that the obligations of good faith, diligence, reasonableness and care prescribed by this Act may not be disclaimed by agreement but the parties may by agreement determine the standards by which the performance of such obligations is to be measured if such standards are not manifestly unreasonable. U.C.C. § 1-102 (1999). 2001] COMMON LAW AND EQUITY IN THE NEW U.C.C. 497 applicability of particularized local law. On the other hand, comment 1 to Section 1-103 mandates the continued applicability of particularized local law as reflected in the principles of common law and equity as de- veloped by each individual jurisdiction. 8 Later, the Drafting Committee sought to give direction on the relationship between relevant supplemen- tal law and the provisions of the U.C.C.9 What further revision beyond the elimination of the "explicitly dis- placed" language should the Drafting Committee make in Section 1-103? Moreover, should the Drafting Committee go to the extreme of eliminat- ing the section? Grant Gilmore distinguished a statute from a "true code" or civil law code by the preemptive effect of a code. 10 A 'statute'. is a legislative enactment which goes as far as it goes and no further .... [W]hen a case arises which is not within the precise statutory language, which reveals a gap in the statutory scheme or a situation not foreseen by the draftsmen (even though the situation is within the general area covered by the statute), then the court should put the statute out of mind and reason its way to decision according to the basic principles of the common law. A 'code'.. pre-empts the field and.., is assumed to carry within it the answers to all possible questions .... [W]hen a court comes to a gap or an unforeseen situation, its duty is to find, by extrapolation and analogy, a solution consistent with the policy of the codifying law .... When a 'statute'.. has been interpreted in a series of judicial opinions . the meaning of the statute must now be sought not merely in the statutory text but in the statute plus the cases ... de- cided under it. A 'code,' on the other hand, remains at all times its own best evidence of what it means: cases decided under it may be interesting, persuasive, cogent, but each new case must be referred for decision to the undefiled code text. 11 8. U.C.C. § 1-102 (2)(a)-(b) (1999). 9. The Reporter's Notes, which will become the official comments, state in pertinent part: The language of subsection (b) is intended to reflect both the concept of supplementation and the concept of preemption. Some courts, however, have had difficulty in applying the identical language of current Section 1-103 to determine when other law appropriately may be applied to supplement the Code, and when that law has been displaced by the Code.