The Sanctity of Contracts in English Law - College of Social ...

66 Curtailment of Freedom by the Courtsmuch more often in the political and economicclimate of today than it was when the doctrine oflaisser-faire prevailed. The State through its manifoldagencies and with its many and increasingactivities touches the citizen, whether as an individualor as a member of some association or group, at somany points. It seems almost inevitable that itshould be so if the functions of government are tobe adequately performed in a highly organisedmodern society. What I am drawing attention to isthe fact that there are these arrangements which weremeant by the parties to be legally enforceable, whichmay appear to the layman as agreements or promisesindistinguishable from enforceable contracts, butwhich, as one of the contracting parties is a governmentalagency in the service of the community, arenot treated as enforceable by the courts.One of the conclusions which Professor Mitchellreaches after a detailed survey is that in the case ofpublic authorities generally the obligatory force ofcontract may be weaker than in the case of privatecontracts. " The special purpose for which governmentalagencies exist, the service of the community,requires that on occasions those agencies must bereleased from, or may be able to override, theirobligations. . . . This limitation of the obligationof contract depends not upon the acceptance of anyparticular theory of political philosophy but uponpractical necessity." 3030Mitchell, op. tit., at p. 222.