August 28, 2025
Brogden supplied coal to the Metropolitan Railway Company for years. When they attempted to formalise the arrangement, Brogden added terms to a draft contract and returned it marked 'approved', but no formal agreement was executed. Both parties acted on the terms. The House of Lords held a contract arose by...
August 28, 2025
British Steel delivered steel nodes after receiving a letter of intent but before a formal contract was concluded. When negotiations failed and payment was refused, the court held no contract existed but allowed recovery on a quantum meruit basis for work done. Facts British Steel Corporation delivered steel nodes to...
August 28, 2025
A dragline crane hired urgently by the defendants sank into marshy ground without fault from either party. The Court of Appeal held that standard trade conditions were incorporated into the oral contract due to both parties' knowledge of such conditions in the plant hire trade, making the hirer liable for...
August 28, 2025
Time-charterers failed to pay hire punctually on 1st April 1970. The shipowners withdrew the vessel by telex notice. The key issue was whether withdrawal occurred before or after the late payment was received. The Court of Appeal held that the withdrawal notice preceded the payment and was therefore effective. Facts...
August 28, 2025
A contractor installed a central heating system for £560 but the system emitted fumes into living rooms and provided inadequate heat (up to 30% deficient in some rooms). The Court of Appeal held that defects costing £174 to repair meant there was no substantial performance of the lump-sum contract, so...
August 28, 2025
The Club submitted a tender for an airport concession before the deadline, but due to the Council's failure to empty the letterbox, it was wrongly recorded as late and excluded from consideration. The Court of Appeal held that the Council's invitation to tender created an implied contractual obligation to consider...
August 28, 2025
Bisset sold land to Wilkinson for sheep farming, stating his opinion that the land could carry 2,000 sheep. The buyers sought rescission for misrepresentation when farming proved unsuccessful. The Privy Council held that the statement was honestly held opinion, not misrepresentation of fact, since neither party knew the land's actual...
August 28, 2025
Peter Beswick sold his coal merchant business to his nephew in exchange for weekly payments to himself during his lifetime and an annuity of £5 per week to his widow after his death. The nephew refused to pay the widow. The House of Lords held that the widow, as administratrix...
August 28, 2025
Facts The claimant, Mr. Bernstein, purchased a new Nissan Laurel motor car from the defendants, Pamson Motors, for £8,000. Three weeks after taking delivery, having driven the car for 140 miles, the engine completely seized while he was on the motorway. The car was towed to a service station and...
August 28, 2025
A heat exchanger exploded at Beoco's factory due to the plaintiff's own negligence in failing to properly test repairs before resuming operations. Though the first defendant breached warranty in supplying defective equipment, the plaintiff could not recover hypothetical lost profits for repairs never carried out due to the supervening explosion...
August 28, 2025
Bell and Snelling, appointed to manage the Niger Company by Lever Brothers, secretly engaged in cocoa speculation breaching their duties. When their service agreements were terminated with substantial compensation, Levers later discovered the misconduct and sought to rescind the settlement agreements. The House of Lords held the agreements were not...
August 28, 2025
Armstrong, chairman of Landmark Corporation, threatened to have Barton, the managing director, killed unless he executed a deed purchasing Armstrong's shares. The Privy Council held that a contract may be avoided for physical duress even if the threats were not the main reason for entering the agreement. Facts Alexander Barton...
August 28, 2025
Facts Mr. and Mrs. O’Brien were joint owners of their matrimonial home. Mr. O’Brien’s company, in which Mrs. O’Brien had no interest, required an increased overdraft facility from Barclays Bank. The bank agreed, on the condition that it was secured by a second charge over the O’Briens’ home. Mr. O’Brien...
August 28, 2025
Facts Barclays Bank Plc (the Bank) employed Fairclough Building Ltd (Fairclough) under a contract to clean and repair the asbestos roofs of two housing estates. Fairclough sub-contracted the work to another specialist firm. The work was performed defectively, leading to significant asbestos contamination of the properties. The Bank was forced...
August 28, 2025
Facts The appellants (Bank Line, Ltd, “the charterers”) entered into a time charter-party with the respondents (Arthur Capel & Co, “the owners”) on 16th February 1915 for the steamship *Quito*. The charter was for a period of twelve months, commencing upon delivery of the vessel at a coal port in...
August 28, 2025
Facts The appellants, Waterlow & Sons Ltd, were a firm of printers who held a contract with the respondent, the Bank of Portugal, for the exclusive printing of 500-escudo banknotes. A criminal mastermind, Marang, pretending to be an authorised agent of the Bank, deceived Waterlow into printing 580,000 additional banknotes...
August 28, 2025
Facts The appellant, Mr. Attwood, agreed to sell his extensive ironworks and coal mines at Corngreaves, Staffordshire, to the respondents, John Small and others, for the sum of £600,000. During the negotiations, Attwood made various statements and representations concerning the property’s costs, output, and earning capacity. The prospective purchasers (the...
August 28, 2025
Facts Kafco (Importers and Distributors) Ltd, a small company importing basketware, secured a major contract to supply goods to Woolworths plc. They engaged Atlas Express Ltd, a national road carrier, to handle the distribution to Woolworths’ retail outlets. An Atlas manager inspected Kafco’s goods and, based on a visual assessment,...
August 28, 2025
Facts The appellants, Arcos, Limited (‘the sellers’), entered into a contract to sell a quantity of Russian redwood and whitewood staves to the respondents, W. N. Ronaasen & Son (‘the buyers’), for the purpose of making cement barrels. The contract specified, amongst other dimensions, that the staves were to be...
August 28, 2025
Facts The plaintiffs, Anglia Television Ltd., planned to produce a television film and incurred significant expenses in preparation before securing a lead actor. These pre-production costs, totalling over £2,750, included fees for a director, a designer, a stage manager, and other critical staff. In August 1968, they contracted with the...
August 28, 2025
Established the modern law of negligence and the neighbour principle.
August 28, 2025
Donoghue v Stevenson established the "neighbour principle," laying the foundations for duty of care and modern negligence law.
August 28, 2025
Held that agreements between spouses can be legally binding if intended.
August 28, 2025
Presumed intention to create legal relations in commercial agreements.
August 28, 2025
Balfour v Balfour (1919) landmark case on intention to create legal relations, differentiating domestic promises from binding contracts.
August 24, 2026
National Case Law Archive
August 24, 2026
National Case Law Archive
August 24, 2026
National Case Law Archive