Good Faith in Maritime Law Contracts
Shatarupa Choudhury and Pallab Das
Abstract In academic and professional circles, discomfort and distrust remain
visible around the application of good faith in contracts. However, the flow of
time has shown judicial inclination towards such application in order to arrive at
just outcomes. Given the backdrop of good faith as a legal principle and the scattered
treatment of it across various jurisdictions, it is interesting to note its relevance in
maritime contracts. The chapter discusses how application of this phenomenon
impacts ascertainment of liabilities and quantum of damages through case law, and
if at all, parties are required to adopt good faith expressly in particular reference to
maritime contracts.
1 Introduction
Recognizing good faith as an intrinsic element in an individualistic pursuit of parties
in a contract is uncomfortable yet compelling at the same time. Good faith, as Cicero
described, “is the foundation of justice, truth and fidelity to promises and agreements. And therefore, we may follow the Stoics, who diligently investigate the
etymology of words; and we may accept their statement that ‘good faith’ is so called
because what is promised is ‘made good’, although some may find this derivation
rather farfetched.”
1
Kant, on the other hand believed, “the value of a good will thus cannot be that it
secures certain valuable ends, whether of our own or of others, since their value is
entirely conditional on our possessing and maintaining a good will. Indeed, since a
S. Choudhury
Swiss Singapore Overseas Pte Ltd, Aditya Birla Group, Singapore, Singapore
P. Das (*)
National Law University Odisha, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India
e-mail: pallab.das@nluo.ac.in
1 Cicero, De Officiis, http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cicero/de_Officiis/1BÃ.
html.
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
P. K. Mukherjee et al. (eds.), Maritime Law in Motion, WMU Studies in Maritime
Affairs 8, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31749-2_7
115
Shatarupa Choudhury and Pallab Das
Abstract In academic and professional circles, discomfort and distrust remain
visible around the application of good faith in contracts. However, the flow of
time has shown judicial inclination towards such application in order to arrive at
just outcomes. Given the backdrop of good faith as a legal principle and the scattered
treatment of it across various jurisdictions, it is interesting to note its relevance in
maritime contracts. The chapter discusses how application of this phenomenon
impacts ascertainment of liabilities and quantum of damages through case law, and
if at all, parties are required to adopt good faith expressly in particular reference to
maritime contracts.
1 Introduction
Recognizing good faith as an intrinsic element in an individualistic pursuit of parties
in a contract is uncomfortable yet compelling at the same time. Good faith, as Cicero
described, “is the foundation of justice, truth and fidelity to promises and agreements. And therefore, we may follow the Stoics, who diligently investigate the
etymology of words; and we may accept their statement that ‘good faith’ is so called
because what is promised is ‘made good’, although some may find this derivation
rather farfetched.”
1
Kant, on the other hand believed, “the value of a good will thus cannot be that it
secures certain valuable ends, whether of our own or of others, since their value is
entirely conditional on our possessing and maintaining a good will. Indeed, since a
S. Choudhury
Swiss Singapore Overseas Pte Ltd, Aditya Birla Group, Singapore, Singapore
P. Das (*)
National Law University Odisha, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India
e-mail: pallab.das@nluo.ac.in
1 Cicero, De Officiis, http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cicero/de_Officiis/1BÃ.
html.
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
P. K. Mukherjee et al. (eds.), Maritime Law in Motion, WMU Studies in Maritime
Affairs 8, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31749-2_7
115