Contract law

229 Pages·2010·1.336 MB·English

by  Stefan Fafinski, Emily Finch

LAW EXPRESS CONTRACT LAW L STEFAN FAFINSKI AND EMILY FINCH
2nd edition
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Law Express: Contract Law is tailored to help you revise effectively. Understand
essential concepts, remember and apply key legislation, and make your answers
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Tried and tested by undergraduate law students across the UK:
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CONTRACT LAW
VisittheLawExpressSeriesCompanionWebsiteatwww.pearsoned.co.uk/lawexpress
tofindvaluablestudentlearningmaterialincluding:
(cid:2) Astudyplantesttoassesshowwellyouknowthesubjectbeforeyoubeginyour

revision,nowbrokendownintotargetedstudyunits
(cid:2) Interactivequizzeswithavarietyofquestiontypestotestyourknowledgeofthemain
pointsfromeachchapterofthebook
(cid:2) Furtherexaminationquestionsandguidelinesforansweringthem
(cid:2) Interactiveflashcardstohelpyourevisethemaintermsandcases
(cid:2) Printableversionsofthetopicmapsandchecklists
Plus:
(cid:2) ‘Youbethemarker’allowsyoutoseeexamquestionsandanswersfromthe
perspectiveoftheexaminerandincludesnotesonhowananswermightbemarked
(cid:2) Podcastsprovidepoint-by-pointinstructiononhowtoansweracommonexam
question
A01_FAFI5820_02_SE_FM.QXP:M00_FAFI5820_02_SE_C00 2/7/09 15:24 Page ii
The essential reference for all students of law

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CONTRACT LAW
2ndedition
Stefan Fafinski and Emily Finch
A01_FAFI5820_02_SE_FM.QXP:M00_FAFI5820_02_SE_C00 2/7/09 15:24 Page iv
PearsonEducationLimited
EdinburghGate
Harlow
EssexCM202JE
England
andAssociatedCompaniesthroughouttheworld
VisitusontheWorldWideWebat:
www.pearsoned.co.uk
Firstpublished2008
Revisededition2009
Secondeditionpublished2010
©PearsonEducationLimited2008,2009,2010
TherightsofStefanFafinskiandEmilyFinchtobeidentifiedasauthorsofthisworkhavebeen
assertedbytheminaccordancewiththeCopyright,DesignsandPatentsAct1988.
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedinaretrievalsystem,
ortransmittedinanyformorbyanymeans,electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recordingor
otherwise,withouteitherthepriorwrittenpermissionofthepublisheroralicencepermitting
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CrownCopyrightmaterialisreproducedwiththepermissionoftheControllerofHMSOandthe
Queen’sPrinterforScotland.
LawCommissionReportsarereproducedunderthetermsoftheClick-UseLicence.
ISBN:978-1-4082-2582-0
BritishLibraryCataloguing-in-PublicationData
AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Fafinski,Stefan.
Contractlaw/StefanFafinskiandEmilyFinch.–2nded.
p.cm.–(Lawexpressseries)
Includesindex.
ISBN978-1-4082-2582-0(pbk.)
1.Contracts–England–Outlines,syllabi,etc.I.Finch,Emily.II.Title.
KD1554.F342009a
346.4202–dc22
2009020858
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
13 12 11 10 09
Typesetin10/12ptHelveticaCondensedby3
PrintedinGreatBritainbyHenryLingLtd,attheDorsetPress,Dorchester,Dorset
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Contents
Acknowledgements vii
Introduction viii
Guided tour x
Guided tour of the companion website xii
Table of cases and statutes xiv
Chapter 1: Agreement and contractual intention 1
Chapter 2: Consideration and promissory estoppel 31
Chapter 3: Contracts and third parties 50
Chapter 4: Contractual terms 68
Chapter 5: Exclusion of liability 86
Chapter 6: Misrepre sentation, mistake and illegality 109
Chapter 7: Duress and undue influence 139
Chapter 8: Discharge of a contract 153
Chapter 9: Remedies 173
And finally, before the exam ... 194
Glossary of terms 198
Index 201
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Supportingresources
VisittheLawExpressSeriesCompanionWebsiteatwww.pearsoned.co.uk/lawexpressto
findvaluablestudentlearningmaterial.
CompanionWebsiteforstudents
(cid:2) Astudyplantesttoassesshowwellyouknowthesubjectbeforeyoubeginyourrevision,
nowbrokendownintotargetedstudyunits
(cid:2) Interactivequizzeswithavarietyofquestiontypestotestyourknowledgeofthemain
pointsfromeachchapterofthebook
(cid:2) Furtherexaminationquestionsandguidelinesforansweringthem
(cid:2) Interactiveflashcardstohelpyourevisethemaintermsandcases
(cid:2) Printableversionsofthetopicmapsandchecklists
(cid:2) ‘Youbethemarker’allowsyoutoseeexamquestionsandanswersfromtheperspective
oftheexaminerandincludesnotesonhowananswermightbemarked
(cid:2) Podcastsprovidepoint-by-pointinstructiononhowtoansweracommonexamquestion
Also:TheCompanionWebsiteprovidesthefollowingfeatures:
(cid:2) Searchtooltohelplocatespecificitemsofcontent
(cid:2) E-mailresultsandprofiletoolstosendresultsofquizzestoinstructors
(cid:2) Onlinehelpandsupporttoassistwithwebsiteusageandtroubleshooting
FormoreinformationpleasecontactyourlocalPearsonEducationsalesrepresentative
orvisitwww.pearsoned.co.uk/lawexpress

vi
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Acknowledgements
Theauthorswouldliketoacknowledgethecontributionsofeveryonewhohas
reviewedthefirsteditionofthisbookfortheircommentsandthosewhohave
providedgeneralfeedbackonourothertitlesintheLawExpressseries.Wewould
alsoliketothankOwenKnightatPearsonforhisinvaluablesupportandunfailing
patience.
Aswiththefirstedition,wewouldagainliketothankElizabeth,forstillbeingthere;
Johnno,becauseit’sbecomingobligatorytodoso;andChris,Tricia,Rebeccaand
TomattheDogandDuck,Emmbrook,forcontinuingtofeedandwaterus,while
listeningpatientlytoourlatestauthoringangst.
StefanFafinski
EmilyFinch
March2009
Publisher’s acknowledgements
Ourthanksgotoallreviewerswhocontributedtothedevelopmentofthistext,
includingstudentswhopa rticipatedinresearchandfocusgroupswhichhelpedto
shapetheseriesformat.
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Introduction
Contractlawisoneofthecoresubjectsrequiredforaqualifyinglawdegreesoitisa
compulsorycomponentofmostundergraduatelawprogrammes.Itisusuallytaught
asafirstorsecondyearsubjectasmanyofitsconceptsarerelativelystraightforward.
Thisrevisionguidewillhelpyoutoidentifytherelevantlawandapplyittofactual
situationswhichshouldhelptoovercomepreconceivednotionsofthe‘right’outcome
infavouroflegallyaccurateassessmentsoftheliabilityoftheparties.Thebookalso
providesguidanceonthepolicyunderlyingthelawanditidentifiesproblemareas,
bothofwhichwillhelpyoutoprepareforessayquestions.Thebookisintendedto
supplementyourcoursematerials,lecturesandtextbooks;itisaguidetorevision
ratherthanasubstitutefortheamountofreading(andthinking)thatyouneedtodo
inordertosucceed.Contractlawisavastsubject–youshouldrealisethisfrom
lookingatthesizeofyourrecommendedtextbook–soitfollowsthatarevisionguide
cannotcoverallthedepthanddetailthatyouneedtoknowanditdoesnotsetoutto
doso.Instead,itaimstoprovideaconciseoverallpictureofthekeyareasforrevision
–remindingyouoftheheadlinepointstoenableyoutofocusyourrevision,identify
thekeyprinciplesoflawandusetheseeffectivelyinessaysandproblemquestions.

REVISIONNOTES
Thingstobearinmindwhenrevisingcontractlaw:
(cid:2) Dousethisbooktoguideyouthroughtherevisionprocess.
(cid:2) Donotusethisbooktotellyoueverythingthatyouneedtoknowabout
contractlawbutmakefrequentreferencetoyourrecommendedtextbooksand
notesthatyouhavemadeyourselffromlecturesandprivatestudy.
(cid:2) Makesurethatyouconsultyoursyllabusfrequentlytocheckwhichtopicsare
coveredandinhowmuchdetail.
(cid:2) Readaroundthesubjectasmuchaspossibletoensurethatyouhave
sufficientdepthofknowledge.Usethesuggestedreadinginthisbookandon
yourlecturehandoutstohelpyoutoselectrelevantmaterial.
viii
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INTRODUCTION
(cid:2) Takeeverypossibleopportunitytopractiseyouressay-writingandproblem-
solvingtechnique;getasmuchfeedbackasyoucan.
(cid:2) Youshouldaimtoreviseasmuchofthesyllabusaspossible.Beaware
thatincontractlawmanyquestionsthatyouencounterincourseworkand
examinationpaperscouldcombinedifferenttopics,e.g.contractformation,
misrepresentationandmistake.Therefore,selectiverevisioncouldleaveyou
unabletoanswerquestionsthatincludereferencetomaterialthatyouhave
excludedfromyourrevision;itisneveragoodideatotackleaquestionifyou
areabletodealwithonlypartofthelawthatisraised.
(cid:2) Dotakethetimetoacquireasmanypastexaminationpapersfromyour
institutionaspossible.Whilethisbookgivesguidancetocertaintypesof
questions,youshouldtrytoanswerpreviousquestionsfromyourown
institution.Thiswillensurethatyouarefamiliarwiththestructureand
requirementsofyourownexaminationandgiveyouplentyofexposuretothe
typesofquestionpreferredbyyourowninstitution.

ix