Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1947

Publication Information

22 Notre Dame Law. 413 (1946-1947).

Abstract

Capitalism is most prudent in accepting into its legal system measures of governmental regulation which apply to economic relations generally and contract relations particularly. Efforts of the executive, legislative or judicial branches of either British or American governments to directly control phases of contractual relationships have generally met staunch and rigid opposition. The spirit of the sacredness and inviolability of the contract relation was a logical outgrowth of the capitalistic system in its inception. At that time freedom was a passion, self-sufficiency a goal. From an era thus shrouded and bedecked with individualism, it is little wonder that measures affecting, even protecting, freedom of contractual relations were slow to evolve. In 1853 in England malicious interference with a contract by a third person was definitely recognized as a tort. At this time, however, this form of judicial protection of the contract relation appeared to most businessmen in the United States as an interference with economic freedom; yet slowly and certainly the tort of malicious interference with contractual relations has developed in this country.

Comments

Reprinted with permission of Notre Dame Law Review (previously Notre Dame Lawyer).

Share

COinS
 
 

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately,
you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.