Delegation and Vicarious Performance in Contract
17 September 2026 (Thursday), 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Rm 901, Cheng Yu Tung Tower, The University of Hong Kong
Contracting parties frequently delegate performance of their contractual obligations; indeed, the completion of most major commercial projects would be impossible without some kind of delegation. The topic, nonetheless, receives surprisingly little attention from courts and from academics.
This talk tackles three aspects of delegation in contract. First, it looks at the way in which contractual duties are defined by reference to the standard of performance and the class of eligible delegates. Second, it examines the principles governing non-delegability, sometimes described as “personal” contracts. Third, it considers attribution of delegates’ conduct for the purposes of establishing performance or breach of the contract.
Speaker:
Wayne Courtney is a Professor at the Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore; previously, he was at Sydney Law School. He is the author of two books, Contractual Indemnities (now in its second edition) and The Modern Contract of Guarantee (now in its fourth edition), and co-editor of Punishment and Private Law. His work has been cited by the Hong Kong Court of Appeal, by the apex courts of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Singapore and the United Kingdom, and by lower courts in those and other jurisdictions.
Moderator:
David Winterton, Associate Professor, The University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law