Good faith

Good faith: there is no generally applicable definition of “good faith”. English law does not currently recognise a universal implied duty on contracting parties to perform their obligations in good faith. This differs from the position in many other countries, including United States and most civil law countries in the EU, which, to some extent or another, recognise some form of overriding principle that, in agreeing and performing contracts, the parties should act in good faith. Under English law, the content of a duty of good faith is heavily conditioned by its context. Examples of different interpretations by the courts include: faithfulness to an agreed common purpose, acting within the spirit of the contract, observing reasonable commercial standards of fair dealing, and acting consistently with the justified expectations of the parties.