Compact Contract

A brief look at topical issues in contract

05 May 2020 - Jason Rix

In Gwynt Y Mor Ofto the court found that an indemnity in a sale and purchase agreement for loss “prior to Completion” meant the 6-day period between signing and completion. Accordingly, it did not cover corrosion in sub-sea cables dating back months or years. The defendants sold to the claimants the business of owning, maintaining and › Read More

08 August 2019 - Jason Rix

In FSHC v GLAS Trust, the Court of Appeal has set out a new test for common mistake. The trial judge had found, as a matter of fact, that the parties had a “common continuing intention” to execute a document which satisfied an obligation that FSHC had to grant security over a shareholder loan, and do › Read More

08 June 2018 - Jason Rix

In Triple Seven v Azman the court found that although the parties had entered into aircraft leasing contracts on the basis of a common assumption, which turned out to be wrong, the mistake was not sufficiently fundamental to render the contracts void. Even if it had been, the parties had allocated that risk. Nigerian airline Azman › Read More

04 July 2017 - Jason Rix

In Astex Therapeutics v AstraZeneca, AstraZeneca were able to recover USD 2m by way of restitution of enrichment for two milestone payments made to Astex by mistake under a collaboration agreement. Astex and AstraZeneca entered into an agreement to develop a BACE inhibitor for treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.  After expiry of the collaboration term, the › Read More

04 November 2016 - Rainer Evers

The Court of Appeal has looked at payment by mistake. In Graham Leslie v Farrar Construction,Mr Leslie agreed to acquire building sites. He would pay Mr Farrar the “build costs” of developments on those sites, and the parties would split the subsequent sale proceeds 50:50. For a while, all went well. Mr Farrar sent Mr › Read More