Guides

Welcome to the lawcases.net guides section. If you want more than a case summary, these guides are a good place to start. They explain the legal principles behind important topics, show how the leading authorities fit together, and point you to the cases that matter most. Whether you are studying, revising or researching a point of law, the aim is to give you a clear route through the subject.

Law books in a law library

Negligence in English law

Negligence is the dominant tort in English law. It provides the principal mechanism by which one party may recover compensation from another for loss caused by careless conduct. In its modern form, negligence requires the claimant to establish four elements: that the defendant owed a duty of care, that the...

Lady justice with law books

Economic duress in English law

Economic duress is the doctrine by which English law permits a party to avoid a contract, or recover money paid, where that party’s consent was obtained by illegitimate economic pressure rather than by physical threats or coercion of the person. It occupies a critical position at the intersection of contract,...

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Duty of care in English law

The duty of care is the threshold concept of the tort of negligence. Before any question of breach, causation, or remoteness can arise, the claimant must establish that the defendant owed a legal obligation to take reasonable care for the claimant’s interests. The content and boundaries of that obligation have...

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Foreseeability in English law

Few concepts in English law carry as much weight, or occupy so pervasive a role, as foreseeability. It operates across the law of tort and the law of contract, appearing at multiple stages of legal analysis: in the establishment of a duty of care, in the assessment of breach, in...

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Breach of contract in English law

Breach of contract is the central pathology of the law of obligations. Where one party to a binding agreement fails to perform, or performs defectively, or evinces an intention not to perform, the law must provide both a framework for classification and a set of remedies. English law has developed,...

De minimis non curat lex

De minimis non curat lex in English law

The maxim de minimis non curat lex – “the law does not concern itself with trifles” – is one of the most enduring principles of the common law. It expresses a fundamental proposition of legal policy: that courts should not expend their limited resources upon trivial matters, and that the administration of...

Consensus ad idem - meeting of minds

Consensus ad idem: agreement in contract law

Consensus ad idem – literally translated from Latin as “agreement to the same thing” – is a foundational prerequisite for an enforceable contract. It captures the intuitive requirement that, for a valid and binding agreement to exist, all parties must comprehend and assent to the essential terms and subject matter...

Street fight

Assault and battery in English law

Assault and battery represent two of the oldest and most fundamental offences known to the common law of England. Though the terms are frequently used interchangeably in popular discourse, they are in law distinct concepts, each protecting a different dimension of the individual. Assault guards the mind against the fear...

In English tort law, novus actus interveniens (a “new intervening act”) is an event that breaks the chain of causation

Novus actus interveniens in English law

The Latin phrase novus actus interveniens – meaning “a new intervening act” – describes one of the most significant limiting principles in the law of tort and, to a lesser extent, criminal law. It refers to an event that occurs after the defendant’s wrongful act and is sufficiently independent to break the...

An example of acceptance by conduct - by boarding a bus and tapping in, the person accepts the terms of travel.

Acceptance by conduct in English contract law

The formation of a contract in English law requires, at its most elementary, an offer, an acceptance, consideration, and an intention to create legal relations. Whilst acceptance is often communicated expressly – by letter, email, or spoken word – the common law has long recognised that a party may accept...

Offer and acceptance in english law - photo of a shop window with what would be invitations to treat rather than offers

Offer and acceptance in English law

English contract law rests on a deceptively simple proposition: a binding agreement emerges when one party makes an offer and another accepts it. This framework, often described as the cornerstone of contractual formation, has shaped commercial dealings for centuries. Yet beneath its apparent simplicity lies a rich and occasionally contested...

The receipt rule in English law - post office letters and packets

The receipt rule in English contract law

The formation of a contract in English law depends on the proper communication of acceptance. Courts have long grappled with a deceptively simple question: at what moment does an acceptance become effective? The answer matters enormously, because it determines when a binding contract comes into existence and, consequently, when the...

Two hands shaking, considering revocation of offer

Revocation of offer in English law

The law of contract rests upon agreement. Before any binding contract can arise, one party must make an offer and the other must accept it. However, between the making of an offer and its acceptance lies a critical window during which the offeror may change their mind. The legal rules...