Open research questions in Legal principles and applications
320 unresolved questions extracted from the limitations and future-work sections of 4,150 Legal principles and applications papers in our library. Each links back to the study that raised it.
What the literature leaves open
Joseph A. Tindale I and Sheila M. Neysmith 2 A view o f distributive or economic justice is presented. Economic justice can best be achieved through the construction and administration o f social policies that promote equality o f condition and opportunity such that people are able to achieve equiiaOle outcomes based on their needs and the com- munity's assessment o f their contributions, A discussion o f the income security situation o f older Canadians provides an empirical vehicle f o r il- lustrating this view. The point is made that bejbre economic justice can prevail social policies must be developed such that current levels o f struc- tured inequality are significantly moderated, Equity will be realized only when there is a shift in policy-making such that claims o f citizenship take precedence over those claims based on the rights o f property. KEY WORDS: distributive justice; income redistribution. I N T R O D U C T I O N The distribution of income to the Canadian elderly has increasingly become a question of social policy. By this we mean that the pattern through much of this century has been one of increasing state intervention in the provision and regulation of income to various disadvantaged societal groupings. The aged have been one such group targeted for special attention throughout this period. Notwithstanding this fact, and the reality that the income situation of older Canadians has impoved considerably in recent years (National Council of Welfare, 1984), it is still the case that large ~Department of Family Studies, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario N1G 2W1, Canada. 2Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 461 0885-7466/87/1200-0461505,00/0 © 1987 Plenum Publishing Corporation
Further research into the psychology of ownership might help elucidate the concepts of ownership and property as they apply to the social, judicial, and larger ideological domains.
Better ways m a y be found, but whatever else the future brings, the economic analysis of law is sure to remain controversial and in- fluential.
The need to protect vulnerable persons, such as minors and the mentally unsound, from entering contractual obligations. The importance of ensuring fairness and protecting vulnerable persons in contractual relationships.
The paper identifies a gap in the existing literature on the strong cause test. The paper argues that the existing accounts of the strong cause test are inadequate.
The lack of an effective and well-functioning mechanism for protecting civil law rules and legislative norms. The difference between civil law and public branches, such as criminal or administrative law.
The COVID-19 pandemic has created new legal constellations for businesses. There is a need for guidance on dispute resolution and preserving rights while supporting economically sound outcomes.
Contract Performance Under Pandemic Pressure: Force Majeure, Renegotiation, Remedies, and Insurance — Legal Options for Businesses · 2026 · DOIFuture research could explore the development of more inclusive and equitable public procurement policies. The study's findings could inform the development of more effective remedies in public procurement procedures.
Access to Justice and Human Dignity: A Special Focus on Appeals in Public Procurement Law · 2026 · DOIThe study identifies a gap in the current system of remedies regarding disputes arising from the performance of public procurement contracts. The research highlights the need for more effective and rapid means of redress in public procurement procedures.
Access to Justice and Human Dignity: A Special Focus on Appeals in Public Procurement Law · 2026 · DOIFuture research can build on this study by examining the application of convalidation in specific contexts. It can investigate the impact of convalidation on legal certainty and transparency in the region.
THE EVOLUTION OF THE LEGAL INSTITUTE OF CONVALIDATION OF NULL AND VOID CONTRACTS IN THE YUGOSLAV LEGAL TRADITION: HISTORICAL INFLUENCES AND LEGAL LEGACY · 2026 · DOIThe paper identifies a gap in the understanding of the role of convalidation in Yugoslav contract law. It highlights the need to explore the contemporary implementation of convalidation across the successor states.
THE EVOLUTION OF THE LEGAL INSTITUTE OF CONVALIDATION OF NULL AND VOID CONTRACTS IN THE YUGOSLAV LEGAL TRADITION: HISTORICAL INFLUENCES AND LEGAL LEGACY · 2026 · DOIThe paper identifies a gap in the discussion of codification in the common law world. The author notes that codification is often associated with the civil law world. The paper explores the potential for codification in modern English law.
Future research should explore the implications of common law for European private law. The concept of common law should be further studied in the context of European legal systems.
The practice of pension authorities often denies benefits to pregnant women who establish a business. The Social Insurance Institution’s control activities are often based on subjective feelings.
Glosa do wyroku Sądu Najwyższego z 27 lutego 2025 r., sygn. akt I USKP 97/24 (glosa częściowo krytyczna) · 2026 · DOIFuture research could explore the application of the principle of good faith in different areas of private law. It could also examine the implications of the principle of good faith for contractual relationships in different jurisdictions.
The paper identifies a gap in the existing literature regarding the role of the principle of good faith in achieving contractual justice. It highlights the need for a coherent theoretical framework for judicial intervention in contractual content determination.
The study highlights the challenge of unequal bargaining power in contractual relations. The study identifies the challenge of systemic stagnation in contemporary common law jurisprudence. The study notes the challenge of limited access to legal resources for vulnerable groups.
A symmetric enforcement of good faith provisions: a systematic review of contractual remedies for weaker parties in common law systems · 2026 · DOIThe study identifies a systemic stagnation in contemporary common law jurisprudence, restricting the operability of good faith to a passive interpretive rule. The study highlights the need for legal protection for weaker parties in contractual relations.
A symmetric enforcement of good faith provisions: a systematic review of contractual remedies for weaker parties in common law systems · 2026 · DOIFuture research could examine the implications of the dual standard of review in other contexts. Future research could also explore the effects of the doctrine on government contracting and the economy.
The paper identifies a gap in the literature regarding the dual standard of review in Contracts Clause jurisprudence. The paper aims to contribute to the debate about this doctrine.
The gap in the current law is the inadequacy of traditional procedural penalties in addressing the abuse of procedural rights. The lack of clear guidelines for awarding damages in cases of procedural will deviation is a significant gap. The study identifies the need for a framework for compensating damages resulting from procedural will deviation.
The paper identifies the challenge of designing a tiered liability system that balances the need for social justice with the need to limit moral hazard. The paper argues that the lack of tiered liability has led to a developing thicket of regulatory and supervisory controls over banks.
The paper identifies a gap in the literature regarding the consideration of tiered liability for 'insiders'. The paper argues that the existing literature has not adequately addressed the question of why the opportunity was not taken to assign greater liability to 'insiders' than to 'outsiders'.
The lack of understanding of how Qing legal norms governing entrustment shaped Chinese commercial practices in Malaya. The need to explore how British colonial courts re-characterised those practices within the framework of English private law.
BAILMENT WITHOUT CATEGORIES: QING LEGAL NORMS, CHINESE DIASPORA FINANCE, AND THE COLONIAL RECONSTITUTION OF PRIVATE LAW IN MALAYA (C. 1820–1920) · 2026 · DOIThe mere fact of delivery was insufficient. On this view, indigenous or migrant practices—often described as informal, customary, or insufficiently defined—were rendered intelligible through the application of systematic legal categories such as contract, property, and trust.
BAILMENT WITHOUT CATEGORIES: QING LEGAL NORMS, CHINESE DIASPORA FINANCE, AND THE COLONIAL RECONSTITUTION OF PRIVATE LAW IN MALAYA (C. 1820–1920) · 2026 · DOI
Most-cited papers in Legal principles and applications
- Equity, Equality, and Need: What Determines Which Value Will Be Used as the Basis of Distributive Justice? · Journal of Social Issues · 1975 · 1,822 citations
- Extreme case formulations: A way of legitimizing claims · Human Studies · 1986 · 1,367 citations
- The Social Control of Impersonal Trust · American Journal of Sociology · 1987 · 1,066 citations
- Property Rules, Liability Rules, and Inalienability: One View of the Cathedral · Harvard Law Review · 1972 · 933 citations
- Bargaining in the Shadow of the Law: The Case of Divorce · The Yale Law Journal · 1979 · 802 citations
- Opting out of the Legal System: Extralegal Contractual Relations in the Diamond Industry · The Journal of Legal Studies · 1992 · 595 citations
- Strategic alliance contracts: dimensions and determinants of contractual complexity · Strategic Management Journal · 2007 · 585 citations
- Contracts, Norms, and Plural Form Governance · Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science · 2000 · 527 citations
- The Contractual Nature of the Firm · The Journal of Law and Economics · 1983 · 452 citations
- Exchange hazards, relational reliability, and contracts in China: The contingent role of legal enforceability · Journal of International Business Studies · 2010 · 451 citations
Most recent work
- Registers for conscientious objection: purposes, risks and unintended consequences · Journal of Medical Ethics · 2026
- Pragmatic defence of the register system: strengthening Clarke’s consequentialist case for managing conscientious objection · Journal of Medical Ethics · 2026
- Who can see the men behind the curtain? · Journal of Cultural Economy · 2026
- Intangible Liabilities · Management Science · 2026
- Registers, conscientious objectors, consequentialism and responses · Journal of Medical Ethics · 2026
- Knowing Receipt, Equitable Proprietary Rights, and Duties of Due Administration · Modern Law Review · 2026
- A Practice-Based Understanding of Shared Rule · Publius The Journal of Federalism · 2026
- FREE CONSENT AND CAPACITY TO CONTRACT · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · 2026
- Strong Cause · International and Comparative Law Quarterly · 2026
- PROTECTION OF RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIABILITY · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · 2026
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