Remedy of Specific Performance under Contract Law and Corporate Social Responsibility

This essay covers the remedy of specific performance available under the contract law for innocent parties and the extent to which Corporate Social Responsibility is taken seriously by corporations. It also discusses the interdependence of business law and ethics.

Commercial law

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................2
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................2
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7
INTRODUCTION
Business law and ethics have different explanations and thus they can be called similar
concepts which complement each other and help in guiding the society through its principles.
Their meanings make them interdependent on each other. The decision making of any company
or organization is governed by the way of business laws which help them to work according to
the rules prescribed in the legislations which the government forms for their smooth functioning.
Thus, it is a type of branch of civil law that helps to manage business affairs and the employer
and employee conduct in the company. On the other hand, Business ethics are basically those
rules and practices that help a person or company to distinguish between what is right and what
is wrong. It helps in easy understanding of what behaviour must be inculcated in the
organization(Abbas, 2020) . This essay will cover in detail and talk about the remedy of specific
performance that is available under the contract law for the innocent parties and it shall also
cover the extent to which the Corporate Social Responsibility is taken seriously by the
corporations.

MAIN BODY
1. Specific performance is a type of remedy that is available under the contract law of UK
and thus it is provided by the courts to innocent parties in a case. It is available to them as a type
of option that the injured parties can choose when they think that is the appropriate form of
remedy for them. The court has discretionary power in this aspect where they can grant equitable
relief to the injured party. In this usually the court goes against the other party who commits
wrongful or illegal act which was agreed between the parties prior to the formation of terms of
contract. So this remedy works in contrast with the measure of damages as the remedy as it is
given to the innocent parties in the case where there is requirement of compensatory damages.
This remedy is contract law is used as an exception in cases(Agudelo, Jóhannsdóttir and
Davídsdóttir, 2019) . When court orders specific performance in remedy then the court provides
a type of decree in the favour of plaintiff and compulsion is on the part of the defendant who as a
party has to perform acts and duties with respect to the terms and obligations of the contract
wherein they have to perform specific parts. It is granted by the court to the parties in the cases
where other remedies and measures of damages cannot be applied due to their insufficiency in
the situation. Fackle vs Gray 1859 is a very famous case in this part which is specifically related
to the contract law's specific performance remedy. In this case, the subject matter of a contract
are Chinese vases which are unique and thus damages cannot be a appropriate remedy to restore
them. The applicability of remedy of specific performance is conditional in relation to the subject
matter and thus it is not granted in vague cases. Also, in cases where the continued supervision is
defined by the contractual agreement or the performance of obligations is for a specified time
them also court cannot grant specific performance.
To get the court provide the remedy of specific performance, it is required that with
respect to the case the injured party must state the facts of contract in the manner that it leads to
satisfaction of court regarding the amount and extent of damages that are given inadequately for
the innocent party and thus parties due to that cannot be restored to the original position. For
example the cases that deal with the transfer of property matters then these damages cannot be
given to the injured party as an appropriate option. The injured parties of the case must request
and claim specific performance as a relief from the court of law(Cesar and Marle, 2019) .
Whereas, Lenne vs Queens Cross Properties Ltd is famous case in which the court held
that specific performance as a remedy must be given to the parties in the case where contract is

formed by stating its conditions and obligations and it is stated that there must be certainty in the
completion of work rather than specific activities for limited time period. Specific performance is
not covered under those contracts where the contractual conditions are related to the provisions
of personal services like contracts of employment. Thus, it cannot be included under the remedial
measure because if court gives such an order then it works towards restricting freedom of an
individual in the performance of an act, this scenarios was elaborated in the case of Chappell vs
Times Newspapers Ltd.
2. When good activities are performed and conducted by any company or organization
which can add benefit to the society and which helps them to become accountable towards the
society with respect to the business that they do then it can be said as an activity under Corporate
Social Responsibility (CSR). There is no method mentioned or fixed for carrying out social
activities under CSR it just states that the companies when they work in the market they must
give a share of their profit for doing something good. Thus, it has flexibility in the way that it can
be adapted by the companies in the manner they like. There are multiple ways of doing social
activities in the fields of environment, having timely social campaigns, etc. which can be done in
the manner that contributes to the benefit of society. The three main sectors where CSR activities
are conducted are social, environmental and economic(Eisenberg, 2018). But it has been
observed in recent times that the corporations do not take CSR responsibility seriously. But as
time is evolving, more people and companies are becoming aware of the benefits of performing
behaviour which contains social responsibility and that has contributed to the changing scenario
to a large extent. With the rising concerns among the society and the environment with respect to
the issue that they face like global warming, loss of biodiversity, unethical labour practices is
alarming and thus the companies can frame policies wherein they address and deal with these
issue under their CSR practices. It can help in the positive brand image of the company among
the consumers while also improving its sales numbers. Thus, CSR practices helps in the business
affairs and its management. CSR not just helps the society but it also helps the company to
achieve employee and customer satisfaction as they like to get associated to the companies that
do something good for the society. The primary reason behind the employees enjoying social
activities is that they get a set goal of them working for a good purpose. A favourable work
environment is created due to CSR for the employees as they feel positive to work and thus can
give importance to the organizational goals and objectives. Social media primarily has added to

the positive growth of CSR due to the awareness that it has created with respect to the
importance of social activities for any company as well as for the benefit of society. CSR also
helps in building a trustworthy image for the company amongst its consumers who get attracted
to the company because of their good social behaviour (He and Harris, 2020) . So in order to
grow and develop among the market competitors, it is very essential that a company performs
CSR activities. Because if the company does not have a good CSR they can suffer downfall in
the market as negative image is created of them among the consumers.
CSR also has several other benefits which make it essential for a company to inculcate it
in its practices. But when companies expand and move forward among the competitions in the
market their uncertainty of CSR performance also rises which draws out the point if it is taken
seriously by the companies or not or if they are using it only as a toll to build their image among
the customers in the market. Thus it helps to form a good relationship with the customers while
helping their sales and profits(Lookofsky, 2020) . But even though it has been accepted by a lot
of companies and programs have been made for it, it is still a concern as there is lack of
coordination in the execution of CSR. And poor management also adds to it improper
implementation. Budget adjustments must be made for the formation of CSR so that it can be
easily implemented by small businesses. The primary duty of a company is towards its
shareholders who must provide share of their profits to them. Thus, companies generally take
CSR as a second priority. There are also situations when CSR is taken by the companies to hide
their illegal business activities so that they can avoid paying taxes and thus in reality they do no
good for the cause of society(Sillanpaa, 2020).
CONCLUSION
It can be concluded from this essay that only in the situations when contractual breach
occurs by the party then the injured party can be granted a remedy by the court which can be of
specific performance so that the party is restored to its actual position that was there before the
formation of contract. While giving this remedy the court creates a form of compulsion on the
other party so that perform specific parts of the contractual agreement. With respect to Corporate
Social Responsibility it is defined as a social activity that a company performs by sharing its
small amount of profit towards doing something good for the society. It can benefit the society
by the way of sectors like economic, social and environment. But even though it has a great

reach it is still a concern because companies or corporations do not take the CSR practice
seriously they only use it for their brand image.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Abbas, J., 2020. Impact of total quality management on corporate green performance through the
mediating role of corporate social responsibility. Journal of Cleaner Production, 242,
p.118458.
Agudelo, M.A.L., Jóhannsdóttir, L. and Davídsdóttir, B., 2019. A literature review of the history
and evolution of corporate social responsibility. International Journal of Corporate
Social Responsibility, 4(1), pp.1-23.
Cesar, F. and Marle, F., 2019, September. A Network-based Contract Management Framework
for Prioritizing Contractual Performance Progress Axis. In 21st INTERNATIONAL
DEPENDENCY AND STRUCTURE MODELING CONFERENCE, DSM 2019.
Eisenberg, M.A., 2018. Foundational principles of contract law. Oxford University Press.
He, H. and Harris, L., 2020. The impact of Covid-19 pandemic on corporate social responsibility
and marketing philosophy. Journal of business research, 116, pp.176-182.
Lookofsky, J., 2020. Convention on Contracts for the International Sales of Goods (CISG).
Kluwer Law International BV.
Sillanpaa, T.M., 2020. Freedom to (Smart) Contract: The Myth of Code and Blockchain
Governance Law. ISLRev, 7, p.38.