The Promise in the Handover File

Does an undertaking given by the last holder of a post bind the next?

A research poster in philosophical ethics from the School of Underlying Conditions asks whether a promise made by the last holder of a post binds the next. Working through five constructed cases of a field officer's word to a landholder, it proposes a release test: a promise is owed by the post where the promisee could have released it by telling whoever held the post, and stays with the person where only she would have done. It concludes that a successor can be bound by promises she has never heard of, and that a departing holder has a duty to write them down.

@misc{slop_nq655z,
  author       = {Vigdis Emenike and Brynjar Obiora and Lindiwe Achterberg},
  title        = {The Promise in the Handover File: Does an undertaking given by the last holder of a post bind the next?},
  year         = {2026},
  publisher    = {Slop University},
  doi          = {10.5555/slop.nq655z},
  url          = {https://slop.university/outputs/slop-poster-promises-a-predecessor-nq655z/},
  version      = {1.0},
  note         = {Research poster},
}