Make no mistake
Murdoch, J.
Make no mistake - 2003 - Estates Gazette (0303) 18 January 2003, 124(1) .
It was settled in "Bell v Lever Bros Ltd" ([1932] AC 161) that a contracting party cannot escape from his or her bargain merely by saying 'I made a mistake when I made this contract'. In "Bell", circumstances existed in which a wrong assumption, shared by both parties, rendered performance of the contract fundamentally different from what was envisaged, that is, that common law will treat the apparent contract as void from the start. However, in "Solle v Butcher"([1950] 1 KB 671), Lord Denning added an important rider to this doctrine, by insisting that, whatever the position at common law, the principles of equity would permit a court, in a case of a mistake, to set aside the contract on terms designed to achieve a fair result. "Great Peace Shipping Ltd v Tsavliris Salvage (International) Ltd" (CA [2002] 3 WLR 1617) disputed the "Solle" ruling as wrong judging that a shared mistake, if sufficiently fundamental, renders a contract void but a less fundamental mistake has no effect at all upon the agreement. The judgment is available at www.courtservice.co.uk.
COMMON MISTAKE
BELL V LEVER BROS
SOLLE V BUTCHER
GREAT PEACE SHIPPING LTD V TSAVLIRIS SALVAGE (INTERNATIONAL) LTD
Make no mistake - 2003 - Estates Gazette (0303) 18 January 2003, 124(1) .
It was settled in "Bell v Lever Bros Ltd" ([1932] AC 161) that a contracting party cannot escape from his or her bargain merely by saying 'I made a mistake when I made this contract'. In "Bell", circumstances existed in which a wrong assumption, shared by both parties, rendered performance of the contract fundamentally different from what was envisaged, that is, that common law will treat the apparent contract as void from the start. However, in "Solle v Butcher"([1950] 1 KB 671), Lord Denning added an important rider to this doctrine, by insisting that, whatever the position at common law, the principles of equity would permit a court, in a case of a mistake, to set aside the contract on terms designed to achieve a fair result. "Great Peace Shipping Ltd v Tsavliris Salvage (International) Ltd" (CA [2002] 3 WLR 1617) disputed the "Solle" ruling as wrong judging that a shared mistake, if sufficiently fundamental, renders a contract void but a less fundamental mistake has no effect at all upon the agreement. The judgment is available at www.courtservice.co.uk.
COMMON MISTAKE
BELL V LEVER BROS
SOLLE V BUTCHER
GREAT PEACE SHIPPING LTD V TSAVLIRIS SALVAGE (INTERNATIONAL) LTD