Privity of Contract

These notes cover the concept of the Privity of Contract. It looks at the key concepts and the specific cases that establish the principle and its exceptions. Each case in Privity of Contract is summed up into a concise summary so that students can quickly understand the most important facts. The notes focus on the ratio of the case, i.e. the reason for the decision, and how the case arrives out of the general principle. There are also comments on how the case should be used to give advice.

Cases

Definition

Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Co Ltd v Selfridge & Co Ltd [1915] AC   847

Tweddle v Atkinson (1861) 1 B & S 393

Rights of Third Parties Act 1999

Nisshin Shipping Co Ltd v Cleaves and Co [2003] EWHC 2602 (Comm), [2004] 1 All ER (Comm) 481

Remedies for Third Parties: The Exceptions

Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562, H

Shanklin Pier v Detel Products Ltd [1951] 2 KB 854

Clarke v Dunraven [1897] AC 59

Scruttons v Midland Silicones [1962] AC 446

New Zealand Shipping Co Ltd v Satterthwaite & Co Ltd (The    Eurymedon) [1975] AC 154

Smith & Snipes Hall v River Douglas Catchment Board [1949] 2 All ER 179, CA

Tulk v Moxhay(1848) 2 Ph 774

Right to Claim Damages

Jackson v Horizon Holidays Ltd [1975] 1 WLR 1468

Woodar Investment Development Ltd v Wimpey Construction (UK) Ltd [1980] 1 WLR 277

Beswick v Beswick [1968] AC 58