An Examination of the Concept of Good Faith in Consumer Contracts

Abstract

‘Good faith’ is a concept that is recognized as one of the general principles of contract law in many legal systems around the world. It is a concept found within common and civil law traditions. In every legal system, Good faith has not just one but many meanings, as well as an unusual capacity to acquire expanded and altogether new meanings. Despite the numerous connotations of the concept of good faith, it has been given an essential role in consumer contract law. It is one of the tests that determine unfairness in consumer contract. The work examines good faith as an instrument that controls unfair terms in consumer contract in the German and English legal systems. The application of good faith in Germany and United Kingdom to consumer contract indicates that good faith in this context is not an artificial or technical concept. There is a dearth of academic scholarship that examines good faith as a criterion to test unfairness in consumer contract in Nigeria. The discourse would be of immense benefits to Nigeria jurisprudence in area of consumer protection.

Keywords: good faith, consumer contract, Germany, United Kingdom, Nigeria

DOI: 10.7176/JMCR/85-05

Publication date: April 28^th 2022