I done a little digging an came up with this.
Guernsey contract law is distinctly Roman. However, it is Roman with a very French twist because Roman law was refined and developed by French jurists over the centuries; in particular by Robert-Joseph Pothier. Pothier lived between 1699 and 1772 and produced a remarkable body of work, assisted by the fact that he never married. Pothier’s Treatise on the Law of Obligations (French law calls both tort law and contract law, the law of obligations, in the sense of one person being obliged to another either by contract or to compensate him for some civil wrong) of 1761 was hugely influential, not just in French law but also Anglo-American law. The French Code civil in particular drew heavily on Pothier. Guernsey contract law is firmly planted within this French tradition.
Because of that common tradition French and English contract law are not so dissimilar; although there are traps for the unwary. It is rare that any very significantly different result would be reached. Equally there are certainly different emphases in the two systems of law. French contract law, for example, emphasises much more heavily than English contract law the obligation to act in good faith (bonne foi); a notion very familiar to insurance professionals. Because of that common tradition one also frequently cites English cases; although there is a view that English common-law has become so large, complex and unsatisfactory that it is no bad thing to be somewhat removed from it.
Guernsey is its own legal jurisdiction with its own laws and customs; that is a great privilege. If sometimes Guernsey law does not seem as clear as it might be I can assure you that English law is no clearer and there is certainly a great deal more of it. England can barely move for the weight of the law it carries. That freedom from excessive law in almost every area of business, apart from the purely regulatory
Confussed??? I am.
Guernsey Contract Law?
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