The thesis explores whether, prior to the nineteenth century regime of legislative intervention which anglicised the law relating to contracts of sale for goods, the Scots common law underlying contracts of sale developed in a unitary fashion. Did the same principles apply regardless of whether the subject of the sale was corporeal moveable, corporeal immoveable or incorporeal? This question is analysed through a case study of the common law contractual implied warranty of soundness, and its application to the three types of property mentioned above. While this study does not provide a definitive answer on its own, it does give us a preliminary indication as to whether the law was unified or not. The thesis relies primarily on Scots case law and academic writings, employing historical and doctrinal methodologies. The study is supplemented by comparative law from France, Germany, South Africa and England. Roman law, and the works certain Ius Commune writers, are also referenced. The thesis can be divided into four parts. The first part explores whether academic texts on the contract of sale dating prior to the legislative intervention took a unified approach in their discussion. This establishes whether scholars from this period viewed the contract of sale as unified; and aids the analysis in subsequent chapters. The second part examines the warranty’s substantive framework in the context of its development, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, through case law featuring corporeal moveable property. The third part looks at the warranty’s use in contracts of sale for corporeal immoveable property. Here, I establish that: 1) there was no consensus as to whether or not the warranty applied to this type of property; and 2) the warranty was not utilised by buyers of this type of property in practice. I identify a combination of factors which prevented buyers of latently defective corporeal immoveable property from invoking the warranty. The final part of the thesis examines the warranty’s actual and theoretical application to contracts of sale for incorporeal property. It establishes that the warranty would be relevant to some, but not all, types of incorporeal property.

La crise économique et financière de 2008 a été un moment révélateur pour les collectivités locales et les établissements de crédit dans l’utilisation des produits financiers structurés devenus « toxiques ». Depuis de nombreuses années, ces deux acteurs ont établi des relations contractuelles basées sur la combinaison de produits financiers classiques et de produits financiers dérivés devenus de plus en plus sophistiqués. Or, le contexte dans lequel ces relations s’exercent devient complexe et nécessite une prise de décision immédiate et durable pour encadrer leur avenir. Que ce soit le juge par sa jurisprudence ou l’État et le législateur qui ont mis en place un fonds de soutien, des lois, des circulaires et une charte, chacun a tenté de trouver des solutions aux problèmes rencontrés par les collectivités locales et leurs partenaires financiers.L’objet de notre thèse sera d’expliquer les raisons et les conséquences de l’utilisation, par les collectivités locales, de ces produits d’un nouveau genre proposés par les établissements de crédit. En suivant la chronologie des évènements que les acteurs en présence ont vécu, des réflexions juridiques seront menées autour de ces relations contractuelles passées, présentes et futures. / The 2008 economic crisis was a revealing event for local and regional authorities and credit institutions regarding the use of structured finance products, which had become « toxic ». For many years, both of them have been establishing contractual relationships based on the association of standard structured finance products and increasingly sophisticated derived finance products. However, as the context in which such relationships are taking place is becoming complex, an immediate and a sustainable decision-making is necessary to provide a framework to their future. Whether it is the judge through case laws or the State and the legislator through the development of a support fund, various laws, circular notes and a charter, each of them has tried to find solutions to the problems faced by the local and regional authorities and their financial partners.The object of the thesis is to explain why local and regional authorities used this new type of finance products provided by credit institutions and what the resulting consequences were. Following the chronology of the events experienced by all of these stakeholders, legal considerations on these past, current and future contractual relationships will be presented.