Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Contributors
- Foreword
- Acknowledgments
- Table of Cases
- Table of Legislation
- Introduction
- I Method
- II Unjust enrichment
- III Equity and trusts
- 11 What is left of equity's relief against forfeiture?
- 12 Contracts, fiduciaries and the primacy of the deal
- 13 Four fiduciary puzzles
- 14 Good faith: what does it mean for fiduciaries, and what does it tell us about them?
- 15 Trustees' duties to provide information
- IV Remedies
- Index
- References
14 - Good faith: what does it mean for fiduciaries, and what does it tell us about them?
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 November 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Contributors
- Foreword
- Acknowledgments
- Table of Cases
- Table of Legislation
- Introduction
- I Method
- II Unjust enrichment
- III Equity and trusts
- 11 What is left of equity's relief against forfeiture?
- 12 Contracts, fiduciaries and the primacy of the deal
- 13 Four fiduciary puzzles
- 14 Good faith: what does it mean for fiduciaries, and what does it tell us about them?
- 15 Trustees' duties to provide information
- IV Remedies
- Index
- References
Summary
Introduction
Good faith is said to be central to fiduciary duties: it is said to be one of the core duties of a fiduciary in the execution of his office. Yet it is equally true that duties of good faith apply to others, who are undoubtedly not fiduciaries. How can this apparent inconsistency be explained? How can a central duty affecting fiduciaries be a duty which, if far from ubiquitous, is apparently much more common than its application to fiduciaries? Answering these questions is vital to understanding the scope and function of fiduciary doctrine.
The way forward is to recognize the fundamental point that legal duties, like all other things, can be categorized in different ways for different purposes: it is conceptually meaningless to categorize other than in a teleological fashion. This chapter addresses the application of that observation to duties of good faith in order to show that it is possible for such duties to apply to persons who are not fiduciaries, while at the same time meaning something unique when they are applied in the fiduciary context.
Some introductory observations on legal categorization
In seeking to understand a complex set of duties, such as the duties that apply to fiduciaries, one can legitimately ask different questions about those duties, to different ends. There is more than one way to skin a cat.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Exploring Private Law , pp. 319 - 342Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010
References
- 4
- Cited by