1. Introduction to the Law of Obligations

“In the absence of large-scale codification or substantial legislative change, and the law of obligations has seen neither, the inventing of the new is rarely combined with the discarding of the old. However inconvenient or inconsistent, centuries-old rules, principles, and doctrines can remain in place, as quaint survivals from the past or as traps for the unwary in the future, sometimes encrusted by so many exceptions that their original functions are wholly undermined. Invariably, of course, there is sufficient flexibility in the application of the law to ensure that it does not routinely produce injustice; and the use of open-ended standards of ‘reasonableness’ and the like allows the law to adopt continuously and painlessly to shifting social standards. The real cost is an ever-increasing, and unnecessary, complexity.”^[1]