Professor Nelson Enonchong

Photo of Professor Nelson Enonchong

Birmingham Law School
Barber Professor of Law
Deputy Dean of Birmingham Law School

Contact details

Address
Birmingham Law School
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
United Kingdom

Professor Enonchong is the author of three major practitioner works in the field of banking and commercial law. He has advised in a number of complex international commercial disputes and has acted as an arbitrator in international commercial arbitrations

Qualifications

  • LLB (Yaounde)
  • Maitrise (Yaounde)
  • LLM (Cantab)
  • PhD (Cantab)
  • Barrister
  • FCIArb

Biography

Professor Nelson Enonchong read law at the University of Yaounde and Jesus College, Cambridge. He was a lecturer and Reader in Law at the University of Leicester before joining the University of Birmingham as Barber Professor of Law in 2001

Teaching

  • Law of Contract
  • Commercial Law
  • Conflict of Laws
  • Financing of International Trade (LLM)
  • International Sale of Goods (LLM)

Postgraduate supervision

Contract/Commercial law
Conflict of Laws
Arbitration
Comparative Law
International Trade and Finance
Current doctoral supervision
Professor Enonchong is currently supervising four doctoral students undertaking research in the following areas

Contractual Mechanisms for Reducing Risks in Long Term Oil and Gas Agreements
The Scope of the Liability of Arbitral Institutions towards the Disputing Parties
Judicial Review of International Arbitral Awards
Balancing the demands of procedural fairness and finality in ADR in the Construction Industry


Find out more - our PhD Law  page has information about doctoral research at the University of Birmingham.

Research

Professor Enonchong’s principal research interests are in the fields of Contract/Commercial Law, International Trade and Finance, Private International law and Comparative law. He is the author of several influential publications in these areas.

The third edition of his leading work on Duress, Undue Influence and Unconscionable Dealing (2019) has recently been published by Sweet & Maxwell. The book, which has been relied upon by courts in the UK and other jurisdictions such as Australia, Canada, Hong Kong and Singapore, remains a primary point of reference on these topics.

His monograph on The Independence Principle of Letters of Credit and Demand Guarantees was published by Oxford University Press in 2011. It examines the nature and scope of the cardinal principle of autonomy of letters of credit and demand guarantees. It considers the challenges presented by the principle and explores the extent to which exceptions to the principle should be recognised in order address the problem of abusive demands for payment. This work has been cited by courts in the UK and other countries such as Australia and Singapore.

His book on Illegal Transactions was published by Lloyd’s of London Press in 1998. It is the first book to be published in the UK on this notoriously difficult subject. This work has been relied upon by courts in the UK and other countries such as Australia, Kenya, Nigeria and Singapore.

Other activities

Professor Enonchong is also a practising barrister and arbitrator at No5 Chambers.

He is a member of the Editorial Boards of

  • Journal of African Law published by Cambridge University Press
  • African Journal of International and Comparative Law published by Edinburgh University Press

Publications

Recent publications

Book

Enonchong, N 2023, Duress, Undue Influence and Unconscionable Dealing. Contract Law Library, 4th edn, Sweet and Maxwell, United Kingdom. <https://www.sweetandmaxwell.co.uk/Product/Commercial-Law/Duress-Undue-Influence-and-Unconscionable-Dealing/Hardback/43087849>

Enonchong, N 2021, Duress, Undue Influence and Unconscionable Dealing: First Supplement to the Third Edition. Contract Law Library, 3rd, 1st supplement edn, Sweet and Maxwell, London. <https://www.sweetandmaxwell.co.uk/Product/Contract-Law/Duress-Undue-Influence-and-Unconscionable-Dealing/Paperback/42809598>

Enonchong, N 2018, Duress, Undue Influence and Unconscionable Dealing. Contract Law Library, 3rd edn, Sweet and Maxwell, London.

Enonchong, N 2012, Duress, Undue Influence and Unconscionable Dealing. 2nd edn, Sweet and Maxwell.

Enonchong, N 2011, The Independence Principle of Letters of Credit and Demand Guarantees. Oxford University Press.

Article

Enonchong, N 2021, 'The state of the doctrine of unconscionability in Singapore', Singapore Journal of Legal Studies, vol. 2021, no. 1, pp. 100-127. <https://law1.nus.edu.sg/sjls/articles/SJLS-Mar-21-100.pdf>

Enonchong, N 2018, 'The modern English doctrine of unconscionability', Journal of Contract Law, vol. 34, no. 3, pp. 211-239.

Enonchong, N 2015, 'Letters of credit payable overseas and third party debt orders', International Banking and Financial Law, vol. 30, no. 11, pp. 674-677.

Enonchong, N 2015, 'The law applicable to demand guarantees and counter-guarantees', Lloyd's Maritime & Commercial Law Quarterly, pp. 194-215.

Enonchong, N 2010, 'Recovery of Overpayments made under Performance Bonds', Restitution Law Review, vol. 18, pp. 14-33.

Enonchong, N 2009, 'Demand Guarantees under the OHADA Uniform Act on Securities', Journal of Business Law, vol. n/a, no. 6, pp. 568 – 591.

Enonchong, N 2007, 'The Harmonization of Business Law in Africa: Is Article 42 of the OHADA Treaty a Problem?', Journal of African Law, vol. 51, no. 1, pp. 95-115. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021855306000222

Enonchong, N 2007, 'The problem of abusive calls on demand guarantees', Lloyd's Maritime & Commercial Law Quarterly, vol. 1, pp. 83-106.

Chapter (peer-reviewed)

Enonchong, N 2021, Letters of credit and stop payment orders made in the issuer's country. in C Hare & D Neo (eds), Trade finance: technology, innovation and documentary credits. 1 edn, Oxford University Press. <https://global.oup.com/academic/product/trade-finance-9780198854470?q=Trade%20finance:%20technology,%20innovation%20and%20documentary%20credits&cc=gb&lang=en#>

Enonchong, N 2013, Restitution from Public Authorities: Any Room for Duress? in S Elliott, B Häcker & C Mitchell (eds), Restitution of Overpaid Tax. Hart Studies in Private Law, Hart Publishing.

View all publications in research portal

Expertise

  • Contract and Commercial Law
  • Banking
  • International Trade and Arbitration
  • Private International Law