Penalty Clauses and the Recent Decisions by the UK Supreme Court in Cavendish v. Makdessi & ParkingEye v.Beavis - European Review of Private Law View Penalty Clauses and the Recent Decisions by the UK Supreme Court in Cavendish v. Makdessi & ParkingEye v.Beavis by - European Review of Private Law Penalty Clauses and the Recent Decisions by the UK Supreme Court in Cavendish v. Makdessi & ParkingEye v.Beavis 25 1

Abstract: The UK Supreme court recently rendered two important decisions on penalty clauses: Cavendish v. Makdessi and ParkingEye v. Beavis. The penalty clause is a controversial legal concept in Europe because it can result in high and unreasonable payment obligations. Most European legal systems agree that some form of protection against unreasonable penalty clauses is needed, but differ in the way penalty clauses are restricted. The most extreme approach is followed by English law, where a distinction is made between invalid penalty clauses and valid liquidated damages clauses. The new UK Supreme Court cases introduce new elements in English law in this respect. In this issue, the two decisions are discussed from a comparative perspective by a number of authors from different legal systems (English & Welsh, Belgian, German, Dutch, French, Italian, Swedish and Polish law).

European Review of Private Law