Keele Research Repository

Contract law has a multidimensional role permeating economic and social spheres, connecting people in mutual relations and contributing to wider norms that govern how people should treat each other. Despite its potential, contract law is largely overlooked by the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which makes only implicit reference to contractual equality under the provisions on equal recognition before the law (Article 12). Moreover, contract law is often examined through a unidimensional lens, facilitating transactions between economic actors motivated by self-interest. English contract law, rooted on the classical pillars of sanctity and freedom of contract, makes no exception. Perceived in this way, the CRPD and English contract law are akin to two unfinished bridges. Focusing on undue influence and unconscionability, this article questions what needs to be done to complete these bridges and ensure a two-way path that pursues social values in the contractual sphere.