OBLIGATIONS VIII REVOLUTIONS IN PRIVATE LAW University of Cambridge 19 – 22 July 2016 SPONSORS On behalf of the Faculty of Law at the University of Cambridge and Melbourne Law School we are delighted to welcome you to the Eighth Biennial Conference on the Law of Obligations. The Obligations Conferences bring together scholars and practitioners from throughout the common law world to discuss current issues in contract law, the law of torts, equity and unjust enrichment. The series originated at Melbourne Law School, where the first conference was held in 2002 and the second in 2004. Subsequent conferences in the series have been held at the University of Queensland, the National University of Singapore, the University of Oxford, the University of Western Ontario and the University of Hong Kong. The conferences in the series so far have focused on taxonomy, principle and policy, justifying remedies, goals, rights and challenging orthodoxy in the law of obligations. At Obligations VIII we are turning our attention to Revolutions in Private Law. Revolutions can shake intellectual, political and philosophical foundations: 2016 is the 350th anniversary of Newton’s ‘discovery’ of gravity, and the 100th anniversary of Einstein’s ‘discovery’ of general relativity. It is also the 50th anniversary of the publication of Goff and Jones’ The Law of Restitution, and the 500th anniversary of the publication of Sir Thomas More’s Utopia. What changes mark the most significant paradigm shifts in private law? What effects have they brought? What has provoked them in the past, and what might deliver them in the future? These questions are relevant across the entire sweep of the law, and are common to all jurisdictions. We hope that this conference theme – Revolutions in Private Law – and its underlying questions will provoke serious discussion about the types of issues which unsettle the law, and how we as lawyers help to resolve the ructions. We are very pleased that you have joined us for what promises to be an exciting three days of discussion, debate and analysis. Sarah Worthington Andrew Robertson Graham Virgo Downing Professor Professor of Law at the Professor of English Private of the Laws of England, University of Melbourne Law, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Co-Director of the Cambridge Education, Co-Director of the Private Law Centre and Fellow Cambridge Private Law Centre of Trinity College, Cambridge and Fellow of Downing College, Cambridge 1 Conference Programme Larry DiMatteo (Florida) DAY 1: TUESDAY 19 JULY ‘Unframing Legal Reasoning: Recurrent and Epochal Change’ 4:00–6:00 PM REGISTRATION Stephen Waddams (Toronto) Grace Howard Room, Downing College ‘Revolutions in the Classification of Obligations’ 6:00–7:00 PM PLENARY 1 Panel II: Howard Theatre Opening Keynote Address Chair: Stelios Tofaris (Cambridge) ‘People and Principle in the Developing Law’ James Plunkett (Oxford) The Rt Hon. the Lord Carnwath of Notting Hill SCJ ‘Duty Methodologies in Australia, Canada and the UK’ Chair: Professor Sarah Worthington Erika Chamberlain (Western Ontario) Howard Theatre ‘Home Office v Dorset Yacht: A Revolution in Duty Methodology’ 7:00 PM TRAVERS SMITH CHAMPAGNE RECEPTION Panel III: Assembly Room (Howard Building) Downing College Art Gallery Chair: Keith A Rowley (Nevada) (with access to Ai Weiwei Exhibition) Sarah Worthington (Cambridge) ‘Revolutionary Breakthroughs in Personal Property Law’ 8:00 PM DINNER Downing College Hall Sarah Green (Oxford) ‘The Meaning of Money’ POST-DINNER DRINKS Howard Building (cash bar until 11:00 pm) 11:00–11:30 AM MORNING REFRESHMENTS DAY 2: WEDNESDAY 20 JULY 11:30 AM–1:00 PM PARALLEL 2B Panel I: Maitland Room (E Staircase) ALL DAY Access to Ai Weiwei Exhibition Chair: Janet O’Sullivan (Cambridge) Downing College Art Gallery David McLauchlan (Victoria Univ of Wellington) ‘The ICS Principles: 8:45–9:45 AM PLENARY 2.1 A Failed Revolution in Contract Interpretation?’ ‘Private Law’s Revolutionaries: Authors, Codifiers and Merchants’ Joanna McCunn (Cambridge) Professor Hector MacQueen, FBA, FRSE ‘Revolutions in Contractual Interpretation: A Historical Perspective’ Chair: Professor Sarah Worthington Franziska Myburgh (Stellenbosch) Howard Theatre ‘Thomas Kuhn’s Structure of Scientific Revolutions, 10:00–11:00 AM PARALLEL 2A Paradigm Shifts And Crises: Analysing Recent Changes in the Panel I: Maitland Room (E Staircase) Approach to Contractual Interpretation in South African Law’ Chair: Matt Dyson (Cambridge) 2 Obligations VIII | Revolutions in Private Law University of Cambridge | 19 – 22 July 2016 3 Panel II: Howard Theatre Panel II: Howard Theatre Chair: Roderick Bagshaw (Oxford) Chair: Kit Barker (Queensland) Peter Cane (ANU) Graham Virgo (Cambridge) ‘Tort Law and Government Liability in the Administrative State: ‘The Illegality Revolution’ Revolution and Evolution’ Andrew Dyson (LSE) Hanna Wilberg (Auckland) ‘Reviving a Revolution: New Support for Hart & Honoré’s ‘Revolution and Counter-Revolution in Negligence Liability for Theory of Causation’ Public Authority Exercises of Statutory Discretion: A Partial Evaluation’ Panel III: Assembly Room (Howard Building) Chair: Mark Gergen (Berkeley) Jason Varuhas (Melbourne) Katy Barnett (Melbourne) ‘The Socialisation of Private Law’ ‘Attorney-General v Blake: Far from Revolutionary in Practice’ Panel III: Assembly Room (Howard Building) Craig Rotherham (Nottingham) Chair: Ben McFarlane (UCL) ‘The Classification of Release-Fee Damages and the Structure Robert Stevens (Oxford) of Revolutions in Legal Taxonomy’ ‘The Equitable Estoppel Disaster’ 3:00–3:30 PM AFTERNOON REFRESHMENTS Andrew Robertson (Melbourne) ‘Equitable Estoppel Revolutions’ 3:30–4:30 PM PARALLEL 2D John Mee (Cork) Panel I: Maitland Room (E Staircase) ‘Revolution or Civil War?: The Resulting Trust versus Chair: Steve Hedley (Cork) the Common Intention Constructive Trust’ Geoffrey Samuel (Kent) ‘Have There Been Scientific Revolutions in Law?’ 1:00 PM–2:00 PM LUNCH TT Arvind (Newcastle UK) 2:00-3:00 PM PARALLEL 2C ‘Paradigms Lost or Paradigms Regained? Panel I: Maitland Room (E Staircase) Legal Revolutions and the Path of the Law’ Chair: John Mee (Cork) Panel II: Howard Theatre James Fisher (Tokyo) Chair: Donal Nolan (Oxford) ‘Making Trusts Civilised: War, Revolution and Jason Neyers (Western Ontario) the English Trust in Japan’ ‘The Coming Revolution in the Tort of Public Nuisance?’ Neil Jones (Cambridge) Pey-Woan Lee (SMU) ‘No Magic in Words? From Uses to Trusts: Causes and Effects’ ‘Understanding Civil Conspiracy’ 4 Obligations VIII | Revolutions in Private Law University of Cambridge | 19 – 22 July 2016 5 Panel III: Assembly Room (Howard Building) Prue Vines (UNSW) Chair: Elise Bant (Melbourne) ‘Taking Common Law Concepts Seriously: Changing the Paradigm Nick McBride (Cambridge) in Private Law Thinking in Response to the Statutory “Revolution” ‘Restitution and Unjust Enrichment: in Private Law’ the Coming Counter-Revolution’ Elise Bant and Jeannie Paterson (Melbourne) Ben McFarlane (UCL) ‘Remedies under Consumer Protection Statutes: ‘Evaluating the Value Revolution’ Revolution and Evolution?’ 4:45–5:45 PM PLENARY 2.2 Panel II: Howard Theatre ‘Revolutions in Private Law?’ Chair: John CP Goldberg (Harvard) Professor David Ibbetson FBA Matt Dyson (Cambridge) ‘Foreman Good, to Judge Better: The Post-Revolutionary Effects Chair: Professor Sarah Worthington of Losing the Civil Jury’ Howard Theatre James Goudkamp and Donal Nolan (Oxford) 6:00 PM HART PUBLISHING DRINKS ‘Private Law Scholarship and Empirical Methods: Fellows’ Garden, Downing College Contributory Negligence in the 21st Century’ 7:30 PM DINNER Panel III: Assembly Room (Howard Building) Downing College Hall Chair: Amy Goymour (Cambridge) Niamh Connolly (TCD) POST-DINNER DRINKS ‘Revolution or Evolution in the Common Law? Howard Building (cash bar until 11:00 pm) Restitution and Invalid Contracts’ DAY 3: THURSDAY 21 JULY Tatiana Cutts (Birmingham) ‘Modern Money Had and Received’ 8:45–9:45 AM PLENARY 3.1 ‘Risk Revolutions in Private Law’ 11:00–11:30 AM MORNING REFRESHMENTS Professor Jenny Steele 11:30 AM–1:00 PM PARALLEL 3B Chair: Professor Andrew Robertson Panel I: Maitland Room (E Staircase) Howard Theatre Chair: Stephen A Smith (McGill) 10:00–11:00 AM PARALLEL 3A Mark Gergen (Berkeley) Panel I: Maitland Room (E Staircase) ‘Privacy, Privity, and Private Ordering’ Chair: James Lee (KCL) Sandy Steel (Oxford) ‘The Continuity Thesis: Revolutions and Revisions’ 6 Obligations VIII | Revolutions in Private Law University of Cambridge | 19 – 22 July 2016 7 DOMUS PLAN 0m 25m 50m dow|2016|v3 approximate NIS COURT ROAD TEN HOWARD LODGE KENNY T H B H B UILDING HEATRE OWARD 58 FELLOWS' HOWARD THEATRE/FLEET OWARD DOWNING COLLEGE GARDEN SCR ASSEMBLY ROOM K 56 GRACE HOWARD SUNKEN ENNY UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE Private GARDEN ROOMA 54 No ROOM Entry THE HOWARD 50 THE 46 HALL CONFERENCE CENTRE A B D 44 C D E F G H OWNING Howard Theatre 42 WEST RANGE 40 J Howard Building OAD S 38 MAITLAND ITE Howard Lodge R 36 ROOM K 34 Flats 3,4&5 THE THE 32 PADDOCK QUADRANGLE A Staircase 30 ENSFIELD The Hall L 28 PARKING L PRIVATE SCR 24 HOWARD Fleet Room GATE 22 M 20 EAST RANGE PRIVATE PARKING U T S R Q P O N E Staircase B Private UTTERFIELD B No AR Entry L ORD West Lodge and & C Maitland Room AFÉ I II III V XI VI VII VI Music Room and via T V The Tim Cadbury Room LIBRARY Conference Services Office FIRST G COURT H RIPHON OUSE PORTERS’ R Staircase BATTCOCK LODGE LODGE Wilkins Room Entrance via First Court No 96 No 76 No 70 Level Entrances REGENT STREET MAIN GATE PORTERS' LODGE 01223 334800