CONTRIBUTION IN A CONTRACTUAL SETTING

Abstract

In light of the recent difficulties of the courts in deciding issues of contribution in tort cases where potentially more than one party is liable, this article asks: What relevance has the fact that the liability of either the first or second defendant, or both, flows from the breach of a contractual duty not shared by the other? In answering this question, the author argues that legislative reform for this issue is not necessary. The concept of contribution itself, when properly understood, contains elements sufficient for resolving this problem. The purpose of the article is to explain those elements.