The Emerging Concept of a Relational Contract in English Law

This essay discusses the idea of a relational contract and charts its recent emergence in English commercial law as a basis for implying a contractual duty of good faith. The essay also considers some theoretical questions raised by this development including the juridical basis for the implication, the content of the duty of good faith in English law and how the question whether the contract (or relevant aspect of it) should be classified as relational is affected by how it has been drafted.