Template talk:Clist contract

Why these cases?

Together these twelve cases explain an awful lot of contract law.

• Smith v Hughes (1871) LR 6 QB 597, agreement is objectively assessed and mistakes are irrelevant.

• Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball Co [1892] EWCA Civ 1, contracts require a meeting of the minds, and there should be a good consideration for the court to uphold the agreement.

• Taylor v Caldwell [1896] AC 325, contracts should not be upheld if their performance was always, or subsequently proved to be impossible.

• Hong Kong Fir Shipping Co Ltd v Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd [1962] 2 QB 26, a court may determine which clauses create the right to terminate or not.

• D & C Builders Ltd v Rees [1965] 2 QB 617, contracts should be freely entered into. This also contains an obiter dicta on the redundancy of consideration in variation of agreements.

• Liverpool CC v Irwin [1968] 1 WLR 1204, contracts require specific default terms, based on the nature of the relationship between the parties. Courts imply these as they think reasonable.

• Lloyds Bank Ltd v Bundy [1975] QB 326, contracts will not be upheld if they involve an imbalance of bargaining power.

• Esso Petroleum Co Ltd v Mardon [1976] QB 108, contracts should be entered with fully informed consent. The duty is on the person giving information to ensure it is correct.

• George Mitchell Ltd v Finney Lock Seeds Ltd [1983] QB 284, courts do not need to resort to strained interpretations in order to take away onerous clauses, when statute allows it explicitly.

• Interfoto v Stiletto [1989] QB 433, contracts should be entered into with fully informed consent. The more onerous the clause, the greater notice must be given.

• Farley v Skinner [2001] UKHL 49, if contracts are breached, you should be put back in the position as if it had been performed properly, including non-pecuniary expectations.

• The Achilleas [2008] UKHL 48, if contracts are breached, unless otherwise stated in the agreement, damages will match the measure of reasonable market expectations.

• Office of Fair Trading v Abbey National plc [2009] EWCA 116

We have here cases on formation, mistakes, interpretation, implied terms, incorporation, statutory regulation, termination, impossibility, compensatory damages, misrepresentation and iniquitous pressure.