Privity of Contract

E-commerce has changed conventional sale of goods through global access in an online marketplace. The borderless online marketplace provides a worldwide platform for sale of goods to consumers. A new group of tech-savvy consumers, also known as e-consumers has emerged and grown rapidly in recent years because e-commerce goods are cheaper, more accessible and convenient and offer greater variety and quality. E-commerce transactions for sale of goods involve many parties, among others the platform provider, the seller (either manufacturer, intermediary, wholesaler or retailer), the internet provider, the financial service provider that provides the transfer of money using data, the website, the logistics provider, the shipping company, the delivering company and the consumer as buyer at the end of the transaction. In some circumstances, consumers can even be the seller in e-commerce. It is essential to determine the rights and liabilities of the contracting parties in an e-commerce contract which raises the issue of privacy of contract and other related contract law issues. The nature and the complexity of e-commerce consumer contracts for sale of goods trigger many legal issues; from forming of the contract to the conclusion of the contract. This paper focuses on the emerging issue of e-commerce contract contractual rights and obligations for sale of goods. As pure doctrinal legal research which employs the content analysis method, this paper aims to map out the connection among the parties both directly and indirectly involved in the contract. This paper also seeks to identify and analyse the relationship of various parties involved in e-commerce consumer contracts for sale of goods. The relationship between the parties in an e-commerce contract, with regard to their rights and liabilities in the sale of goods, was examined and reviewed with the aim to ascertain coherence with the privacy of contract doctrine.

This paper represents a deep analysis of one of the most famous cases of Western law: Donoghue v. Stevenson. Many legal principles arose from the ruling of the House of Lords: privity of contract, duty of care and, above all, negligence clearly considered as a tort.
Moreover, the document contains comparisons with other jurisdictions pertaining the neighbour principle.
Finally, the environmental problem of oil spills in Nigeria is dealt with legal postulates coming from the Donoghue case, purporting to stress the fundamental right to a clean environment for all human beings.

In  the  21st  Century,  the  commerce  is  not confined  to the  boundaries  of  any single-nation  state.  Hence,  we  have  been  witness  to  the  transactions  and  disputes involving  multiple  parties  and  legal  systems.  Assuming  that  you  are  an  in-house counsel  in  an  MNE.  Do  you  ever  wonder  whether  the  parent  or  sister  companies' counsel  or  the  opposing  counsel  may  make  contact  with  you  about  the  arbitral proceedings  that  your  client  has  never  agreed  on  in  the  first  place?  Is  it  possible whether  the  non-signatory  parties  are  bound  by  or  benefit  from  the  arbitration agreement, and what could be the possible legal grounds given the doctrine of privity of contract? This article discusses one of these grounds, the group of companies doctrine, in  the  context  of  Turkish  and  US  legal  systems  comparatively  and  explores  its applicability in light of precedents.

Based on the Report which I wrote for the Law Reform Commission of Ireland, this article analyses the need to reform the law on privity of contract in Ireland, including a comparative analysis of reforms which have occurred in other jurisdictions such as England, New Zealand and Canada