20 History and the Future

Subject(s):

Contract — All risks

This chapter proposes two events which are considered to have had a major impact on the crystallisation of the main features of the main legal systems: first the timing of crystallisation in relation to the arrival of the Industrial Revolution in the jurisdictions concerned; and, secondly, cultural and political trends post-1968. It mentions the impact of Brexit and the role of Roman law. The chapter suggests possible future directions for the law. Three prominent issues are whether the law will continue to expand at its present rate and become even more unmanageable, whether the existing families of law will remain substantially as they are, and whether the dominance of English and New York law in wholesale transactions will continue as a duopoly or whether other contenders will emerge. One can expect that the content of the law of the future will be very unexpected.