DUTY OF HONEST PERFORMANCE

A TORT DRESSED IN CONTRACT CLOTHING

Authors

  • Anna S.P. Wong

Abstract

In CM Callow Inc v Zollinger, the latest installment from the Supreme Court of Canada on the duty of honest performance, the Court insisted that it is a contractual duty rather than a tortious one. This article contends that the duty to act honestly, a welcome addition as it is to the realm of private-law obligations, represents an infusion of tort logic into contract law. To preserve the coherence of orthodox contract law as a distinct field of liability, the duty should be reclassified under tort. Its breach should be recognized as a tortious wrong, attracting compensation for reliance, not expectation, losses.

Keywords:

torts, duty of good faith, contractual doctrines, detrimental reliance, damages, corrective justice, reliance interest, expectation interest, contractual intention, bargaining, contracts

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Published

2022-05-02

Issue

Section

Articles