Mistake
A Mistake in Contract Law is defined as ‘a mistake of one party which is not shared by the other party, and which may, or may not, be known about the other party’. ‘Mistake’ has a narrower meaning in contract law than it does in its ordinary English meaning. Parties will not be easily discharged from their contractual undertakings because they have entered into the contract under a misunderstanding. Mistake in contract law is exceptional. An operative mistake will only be found where there has been a mistake of fact preventing the formation of a contract, i.e. the parties cannot be said to have reached agreement because the mistake is so fundamental. The effect of an operative mistake is to render the contract void (rather than voidable) i.e. the contract will be declared a nullity from its beginning. It is therefore an exception to the general rule of contract that parties are bound by the terms of their agreement and must rely on their contractual stipulations for protection from the effect of facts unknown to them.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this lecture you should be able to:
identify the essential ingredients of each category of operative mistake;
explain the distinction between void and voidable contracts.
Common mistake
Couturier v Hastie (1856) 10 ER 1065, HL
Scott v Coulson [1903] 2 Ch 249, CA
Cooper v Phibbs (1867) LR 2 HL 149, HL
Mistake as to quality
Bell v Lever Brothers [1932] AC 161, HL
Mutual Mistakes
Raffles v Wichelhaus(1864) 159 ER 375, Exchequer
Scriven Bros v Hindley [1913] 3 KB 564, Lawrence J
Smith v Hughes (1871) LR 6 QB 597, QB
Unilateral mistake
Hartog v Colin & Shields [1939] 3 All ER 566, Singleton J
Shogun Finance v Hudson [2004] 1 All ER 215, HL
Mistaken Identity
Cundy v Lindsay (1878) LR 3 AC 459, HL
Face- to- face Principle
Ingram v Little [1961] 3 All ER 332, CA
Rectification
Bates v Wyndham's Lingerie [1981] 1 All ER 1077, CA
A Mistake in Contract Law is defined as ‘a mistake of one party which is not shared by the other party, and which may, or may not, be known about the other party’. ‘Mistake’ has a narrower meaning in contract law than it does in its ordinary English meaning. Parties will not be easily discharged from their contractual undertakings because they have entered into the contract under a misunderstanding. Mistake in contract law is exceptional. An operative mistake will only be found where there has been a mistake of fact preventing the formation of a contract, i.e. the parties cannot be said to have reached agreement because the mistake is so fundamental. The effect of an operative mistake is to render the contract void (rather than voidable) i.e. the contract will be declared a nullity from its beginning. It is therefore an exception to the general rule of contract that parties are bound by the terms of their agreement and must rely on their contractual stipulations for protection from the effect of facts unknown to them.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this lecture you should be able to:
identify the essential ingredients of each category of operative mistake;
explain the distinction between void and voidable contracts.
Common mistake
Couturier v Hastie (1856) 10 ER 1065, HL
Scott v Coulson [1903] 2 Ch 249, CA
Cooper v Phibbs (1867) LR 2 HL 149, HL
Mistake as to quality
Bell v Lever Brothers [1932] AC 161, HL
Mutual Mistakes
Raffles v Wichelhaus(1864) 159 ER 375, Exchequer
Scriven Bros v Hindley [1913] 3 KB 564, Lawrence J
Smith v Hughes (1871) LR 6 QB 597, QB
Unilateral mistake
Hartog v Colin & Shields [1939] 3 All ER 566, Singleton J
Shogun Finance v Hudson [2004] 1 All ER 215, HL
Mistaken Identity
Cundy v Lindsay (1878) LR 3 AC 459, HL
Face- to- face Principle
Ingram v Little [1961] 3 All ER 332, CA
Rectification
Bates v Wyndham's Lingerie [1981] 1 All ER 1077, CA
A Mistake in Contract Law is defined as ‘a mistake of one party which is not shared by the other party, and which may, or may not, be known about the other party’. ‘Mistake’ has a narrower meaning in contract law than it does in its ordinary English meaning. Parties will not be easily discharged from their contractual undertakings because they have entered into the contract under a misunderstanding. Mistake in contract law is exceptional. An operative mistake will only be found where there has been a mistake of fact preventing the formation of a contract, i.e. the parties cannot be said to have reached agreement because the mistake is so fundamental. The effect of an operative mistake is to render the contract void (rather than voidable) i.e. the contract will be declared a nullity from its beginning. It is therefore an exception to the general rule of contract that parties are bound by the terms of their agreement and must rely on their contractual stipulations for protection from the effect of facts unknown to them.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this lecture you should be able to:
identify the essential ingredients of each category of operative mistake;
explain the distinction between void and voidable contracts.
Common mistake
Couturier v Hastie (1856) 10 ER 1065, HL
Scott v Coulson [1903] 2 Ch 249, CA
Cooper v Phibbs (1867) LR 2 HL 149, HL
Mistake as to quality
Bell v Lever Brothers [1932] AC 161, HL
Mutual Mistakes
Raffles v Wichelhaus(1864) 159 ER 375, Exchequer
Scriven Bros v Hindley [1913] 3 KB 564, Lawrence J
Smith v Hughes (1871) LR 6 QB 597, QB
Unilateral mistake
Hartog v Colin & Shields [1939] 3 All ER 566, Singleton J
Shogun Finance v Hudson [2004] 1 All ER 215, HL
Mistaken Identity
Cundy v Lindsay (1878) LR 3 AC 459, HL
Face- to- face Principle
Ingram v Little [1961] 3 All ER 332, CA
Rectification
Bates v Wyndham's Lingerie [1981] 1 All ER 1077, CA