Hugh Beale
Emeritus Professor
Contract Law; Commercial Law
Hugh's research interests are in contract (including European and comparative contract law) and commercial law. He is now retired but continues to write on and occasionally to teach all three subjects. He is the General Editor of Chitty on Contracts, the leading practitioner work on English contract law, and contributes a number of chapters to the book.
Hugh Beale has been a Professor of Law at Warwick since 1987. Before that he taught at the University of Bristol, University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, and the University of Connecticut. He has been a visiting professor at the Universities of Amsterdam, North Carolina, Paris I and Utrecht. He currently holds a Visiting Professorship at the University of Oxford (2007-) and is a Senior Research Fellow at Harris Manchester College. For a number of years he has taught a short course on aspects of European Private Law at the University of Trento, Italy.
From 1987-1999 he was a member of the Commission on European Contract Law and with the founder of that group, Ole Lando, he edited the Principles of European Contract Law: Parts I & II (2000). He was a member of the Study Group on a European Civil Code and heavily involved in the preparation of a draft Common Frame of Reference as part of the European Commission's Action Plan of a European Contract Law, and a member of the Expert Group that advised the European Commission on the proposed Common European Sales Law (2011).
From 2000 to 2007 Hugh was on leave from the University while he was a Law Commissioner for England and Wales, with responsibility for the Commercial and Common Law Team. During this time the Team worked on projects such as Limitation; Unfair Contract Terms; Illegality in Contracts and Trusts; Registration of Security Interests over Property other than Land; and Insurance Contract Law.
Hugh was appointed Honorary QC in 2002. He was elected as an Honorary Member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in 2001 and a Fellow of the British Academy in 2004. He holds Honorary Doctorates from the University of Miskolc (1995), DeMontfort University (2003), University of Antwerp (2005) and Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest (2018). He is an Honorary Bencher of Lincoln’s Inn.
- 'Beale, Hugh, 2022. 'Digital content directive and rules for contracts on continuous supply. Journal of Intellectual Property, Information Technology and E-Commerce Law, 12 (2), pp. 96-110
- Beale, Hugh, Gullifer, Louise, Paterson, Sarah, 2016. A case for interfering with freedom of contract? An empirically-informed study of bans on assignment. Journal of Business Law, 2016 (3), pp. 203-230
- Beale, Hugh, 2010. The impact of the decisions of the European Courts on English contract law : the limits of voluntary harmonization. European Review of Private Law, Vol.18 (No.3), pp. 501-526
- Beale, Hugh, 2008. The Draft Common Frame of Reference : mistake and duties of disclosure. European Review of Contract Law, Vol.4 (No.3), pp. 317-337
- Beale, Hugh, 2006. La Réforme du Droit Français des Contrats et le 'Droit Européen des Contrats' : perspective de la Law Commission Anglaise. Revue des Contrats, 1, pp. 135-146
- Beale, Hugh, 2006. The exportability of North American chattel security regimes : the fate of the English Law Commission's Proposals. Canadian Business Law Journal, 43 (2), pp. 178-199
- Beale, Hugh, Twigg-Flesner, Christian, 2021. COVID-19 and English contract law. Hondius, Ewoud; Santos Silva, Marta; Nicolussi, Andrea; Salvador Coderch, Pablo; Wendehorst, Christiane; Zoll, Fryderyk (eds.), Coronavirus and the Law in Europe, Cambridge, Intersentia
- Beale, Hugh, Twigg-Flesner, Christian, 2020. Covid-19 and frustration in English law. In Garcia Long, Sergio (ed.), Derecho de los Desastres : Covid-19, Peru, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, pp. 1185-1200
- Beale, Hugh, 2017. Undue Influence and Unconscionability. In Dyson, Andrew; Goudkamp, James; Wilmot-Smith, Frederick (eds.), Defences in Contract, Hart Publishing, pp. 87-110
- Beale, Hugh, Bridge, Michael, Gullifer, Louise, Lomnicka, Eva, 2012. The law of security and title-based financing. Oxford ; New York, Oxford University Press
- Beale, Hugh, 2012. The draft academic common frame of reference and the ?toolbox'. Andenas, Mads; Andersen, Camilla Baasch (eds.), Theory and Practice of Harmonisation, Cheltenham, UK, Edward Elgar
- Beale, Hugh, 2012. Mistake and non-disclosure of fact : models for English contract law. Oxford, Oxford University Press
- Beale, Hugh, 2010. A review of the contracts (rights of third parties) Act 1999. In Burrows, Andrew; Peel, Edwin (eds.), Contract formation and parties, Oxford ; New York, Oxford University Press, pp. 225-250
- Beale, Hugh, 2010. Remedies for breach of contract in the light of therecent changes to German Law, English Law andthe DCFR. In Blaurock , Uwe; Hager, Gunter (eds.), Obligationenrecht im 21. Jahrhundert, Baden-Baden, Nomos Verlagsges.Mbh + Co, pp. 115-146
- Beale, Hugh, Tallon, Denis, Vogenauer, Stefan, Rutgers , Jacobien W., Fauvarque-Cosson, Bénédicte, 2010. Cases, materials and text on contract law. Oxford ; Portland, OR, Hart
- Beale, Hugh, Bishop, W. D., Furmston, M. P., 2008. Contract : cases and materials. Oxford, Oxford University Press
- Beale, Hugh, 2007. The common frame of reference in general - a resumé of the current status. In Schulze, R. (ed.), New Features in Contract Law, Mu¨nchen, Sellier European Law Publishers GmbH, pp. 343-361
- Beale, Hugh, 2006. General clauses and specific rules in the principles of European contract law : the 'Good Faith' clause. Grundmann, Stefan; Mazeaud, Denis (eds.), General clauses and standards in European contract law : comparative law, EC law and contract law codification, The Hague, Kluwer Law International ; Frederick, MD : Sold and distributed in North, Central and South America by Aspen Publishers
- Beale, Hugh, 2002. Finding the remaining traps instead of unifying contract law. Grundmann, Stefan; Stuyck, Julien (eds.), An academic green paper on European contract law, The Hague ; New York, Kluwer Law International
- Beale, Hugh, Ringe, Wolf-Georg, 2013. Transfer of rights and obligations under DCFR and CESL : interactions with English and German law. University of Warwick
2013
“Characteristics of Contract Laws and the European Optional Instrument”, in H Eidenmüller (ed.), Regulatory Competition in Contract Law and Dispute Resolution (Munich: Beck, 2013), 315-338
(with G Ringe), “Transfer of Rights and Obligations” in G Dannemann and S Vogenauer (eds,) The Common European Sales Law in Context: Interactions with English and German Law (Oxford: OUP for AHRC, 2013) 521-561
“A Common European Sales Law (CESL) for Business-to-Business Contracts” in L Moccia (ed), The Making of European Private Law: Why, How, What, Who (Munich: Sellier, 2013) 65-76
“Relational values in English contract law” in D Campbell, L Mulcahy and S Wheeler (eds), Changing Concepts of Contract, Essays in Honour of Ian Macneil (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013), 138-165.
“The UNCITRAL Legislative Guide on Secured Transactions as a model for law reform: some conclusions”, in N.O. Akseli (ed.), Availability of Credit and Secured Transactions in a Time of Crisis (Cambridge University Press, 2013, 275-292.
2014
“The CESL Proposal: the impact on international contracts”, in M Fontaine and D Phillipe (eds) International contracts and arbitration (Brussels: Larcier, 2014), 7-27.
“Bridging the Gap: A Relational Approach to Contract Theory” (review article) (2014) 41 Journal of Law and Society 641-651
“A Comparison of the Contract Sections of the New Hungarian Civil Code with English Sales Law and the proposed Common European Sales Law” [2014] ELTE Law Journal 35-50
2015
(with L Gullifer and S Paterson) "Ban on assignment clauses: views from the coalface", (2015) 30 Butterworths Journal of International Banking and Financial Law463-466.
Chitty on Contracts 32nd ed. (General Editor, and responsible for chapters 3, 6-8 and 26) (Sweet & Maxwell, 2015)
2016
"Art.66-68: The Sources of Contract Terms Under the CESL" in A Colombi Ciacchi (ed), Contents and Effects of Contracts - Lessons from the Common European Sales Law (Springer, 2016), 75-102
"Penalty Clauses in English Law" (2016) 23 & 24 European Review of Private Law (Essays in honour of Arthur Hartkamp) 353-372
"“Surprising” or “Unfair”? Controls over Standard Terms" in UNIDROIT (ed.) Eppur si muove: The Age of Uniform Law - Essays in honour of Michael Joachim Bonell, 975-987
"An Outline of a Typical PPSA Scheme" in L. Gullifer and O. Akseli (eds),
Secured Transactions Law Reform: Principles, Policies and Practice (Hart Publishing, 2016) 7-19
"The Story ofEU Contract Law - from 2001 to 2014" in C. Twigg-Flesner (ed), Research Handbook on EU Consumer and Contract Law (Edward Elgar, 2016) 431-462
"The Law Commission Model: Exportable to the EU?" in M Dyson, J Lee and S Stark (eds), Fifty Years of the Law Commissions (Hart Publishing, 2016), 219-234
2017
"English Contract Law: Legitimate Deterrence and Penalty Clauses" [2017] (2) Zeitschrift für Internationales Wirtschaftsrecht 68-73
"Conclusion and Performance of Contracts: an Overview" in R Schulze, D Staudenmayer and S Lohsse (eds), Contracts for the Supply of Digital Content: regulatory Challenges and Gaps (Baden-Baden: Nomos, 2017), 33-57
"The Principles of Latin American Contract Law: A Response from an Outsider", in R Momberg and S Vogenauer (eds), The Future of Contract Law in Latin America (Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2017), 265-284.
2018
(with M Bridge, L Gullifer and E Lomnicka), The Law of Security and Title-based Financing (3rd ed, 2018), lxxxii + 876 pp
"The Role for European Contract Law: Uniformity or Diversity?" in F de Elizade (ed), Uniform Rules for European Contract Law? A Critical assessment (Hart, 2018), 9-34
Chitty on Contracts 33rd ed. (General Editor, and responsible for chapters 3, 6-8 and 26) (Sweet & Maxwell, 2018)
2019
"Primacy of the Contract Document in English Contract Law"[2019] 1 Zeitschrift für Internationales Wirtschaftrecht 28-34.
(with B Fauvarque-Cosson, J Rutgers and S Vogenauer) Ius Commune Casebooks for the Common Law of Europe: Cases, materials and text on Contract Law (Hart, 3rd edn 2019) (lxv + 1448 pp) (lead author for chapters 8-10, 14, 19 and 22-27)
"Earnest Money and Deposits", in Le Parole Del Diritto: Scritti in Onore di Carlo Castronovo (Jovene Editore 2018), II, 621-638
| Title | Funder | Award start | Award end |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ban on Assignment | Asset Based Finance Association Limited | 01 Feb 2011 | 31 May 2011 |
| Consolidation of the law on the sale and supply of goods to consumers | University of Manchester | 01 Feb 2010 | 31 Aug 2010 |
| Policy Issues in Legal Development: Economic and Social Factors and European Integration | British Council (Hungary) | 01 Apr 2003 | 31 Mar 2004 |