Freedom and Protection in Contemporary Contract Law

Abstract

How should contemporary contract law be characterized? Freedom or protection? Ewoud Hondius has made a plea for increased protection of the weaker party in contract law. In this contribution some critical remarks are made. It is argued that freedom of contract should be put back on the agenda. This accords with the new belief in the blessings of the free market and the awareness that protection is not always effective and may sometimes even generate adverse effects. The application of competition law and the regulation of information should have a higher priority than mandatory substantive contract law.