contract-law legal-terms england-and-wales
How does a &#39;covenant&#39; differ from a [1] &#39;promise&#39; [2] &#39;contract&#39;?
<p>I'm discombublated why none of my contract law textbooks define 'covenant' when they use it many times, including <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ansons-Law-Contract-Jack-Beatson/dp/0198734786/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_0?_encoding=UTF8&amp;psc=1&amp;refRID=ZW82SGPZDB8D0GKSVMV4" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><em>Anson's Law of Contract</em> (2016 30 ed)</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Contract-Law-Text-Cases-Materials/dp/019880816X/ref=dp_ob_title_bk" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><em>Contract Law: Text, Cases, and Materials</em> (2018 8 ed)</a>. </p>

<p>Google furnished some articles defining 'covenant', but in US law  by </p>

<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/representations-warranties-covenants-why-theyre-matters-eric-lambert/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Eric Lambert</a> <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericesquire/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">BA in Economics, Math, Business, University of Rochester. JD Cornell.</a> </li>
<li><p><a href="https://www.ipwatchdog.com/2018/10/10/contracts-101-covenants-representations-warranties-ip-license-agreements/id=102186/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Raymond Millien</a>  BS in Computer Science from Columbia University (New York), and a JD from The George Washington University Law School (Washington D.C.) </p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://www.natlawreview.com/article/representations-warranties-and-covenants-back-to-basics-contracts" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Marc Primack</a> <a href="https://www.dresslerpeters.com/professionals/marc-a-primack" rel="nofollow noreferrer">The University of Chicago, AB, Phi Beta Kappa. Stanford University, JD</a>. </p></li>
<li><a href="https://www.upcounsel.com/difference-between-covenant-and-contract" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Upcounsel.com</a>, but I distrust this as the author(s) is undeclared.</li>
</ul>

<p><a href="https://practicallaw.thomsonreuters.com/8-107-6009?transitionType=Default&amp;contextData=(sc.Default)&amp;firstPage=true&amp;bhcp=1" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Thomson Reuters Practical Law's glossary</a> is too snippety. </p>

<blockquote>
  <p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/d6Szb.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/d6Szb.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>
</blockquote>

<p>A proper definition was given by the Ninth <a href="https://www.adamsdrafting.com/how-a-court-determines-whether-something-is-an-obligation-or-a-condition/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Circuit</a>:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>A covenant is a contractual promise, i.e., a manifestation of
  intention to act or refrain from acting in a particular way, such that
  the promisee is justified in understanding that the promisor has made
  a commitment. A condition precedent is an act or event that must occur
  before a duty to perform a promise arises. Conditions precedent are
  disfavored because they tend to work forfeitures. Wherever possible,
  equity construes ambiguous contract provisions as covenants rather
  than conditions. However, if the contract is unambiguous, the court
  construes it according to its terms.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>See the entire <a href="http://www.koncision.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/MDY-Industries.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">opinion</a></p>

<p>According to Cornell web <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/covenant" rel="nofollow noreferrer">dictionary</a>: </p>

<p>A covenant is a promise in a contract or contract-like legal agreement.  For example, lease agreements include covenants to pay rent.</p>

<p>So, a covenant is a type of promise and it is part of the contract or agreement. A contract will have other clauses and a covenant is one of them. </p>

<p>I can't think of any difference in the legal effect of a "covenant" than a promise or contract, and I've never seen a case that has made that distinction with any legal effect. </p>

<p>For example, a land covenant could also be called "a land use agreement" or a "property restriction" or a "negative easement", instead of a covenant, with the same legal effect.</p>

<p>The term covenant is customarily used for promises that run with the land, or for promises made in connection with a financing transaction (e.g. a "loan covenant"). The term covenant is also sometimes used as a synonym of "provision" or "section" within a contract or agreement or lease or legal instrument that contains a promise.</p>

<p>But, it isn't improper or incorrect to use the term in most other contexts, even though it would be non-standard in some of them. "Covenant" is often used redundantly in a phrase such as "contracts, covenants and agrees" in all sorts of contracts, which simply reflects the common practice of using redundant terminology in legal transactions.</p>
