Consideration Flashcards
[Currie v Misa]
Consideration must “consist either in some right, interest, profit, or benefit accruing to the one party, or some forbearance, detriment, loss, or responsibility, given suffered or undertaken by the other.
Thus no legal contract exists unless there is consideration in form of a benefit gained, or detriment lost,
[The Eurameydon]
Performance of a existing contractual duty can be good consideration for contract with another party, as one party is under double the contractual obligation,
[Eastwood v Kenyon]
The Claimant used his funds to assist in paying off his wards education, as the estate of the father was not enough, the daughter then promised to pay it.
She later refused
The courts ruled in her favor,
As the actions of the claiment had already occurred,
The court determined that past consideration is not good consideration, and that your consideration for the contract must be the present or future
Stilk v Myrick (1809)
The technical general rule for the completion of duty in regards to a contract,
One cannot receive extra payment for work one is already contractually obligated to complete
(This rule has been in all essence over-ruled by Williams v Roffey)
Hartley v Ponsonby (1857)
A counter-case to Stilk v Myrick, in which a docked boat lost most of its men, he offered to pay the remainer of his men promised them extra wages, he failed to pay them when they arrived,
The courts ruled in favor of the claimant in this case, this is because the vessel was docked and therefore not in a state of emergency, the boat was not safe to continue voyaging on, by offering them new wages and there acceptance of it new consideration has been given
Altered conditions can change contractual duties
Williams v Roffey Bros & Nicholls Contractors (Ltd) [1991]
In which the appellants roffery bros, were builders contracted to the construction of flats belonging to a housing company, the contract had a clause for late completion.
They sub-contracted a carpenter to avoid this clause, Williams, when his pace didn’t meet expectations they offered him bonus payments to move faster,
The Roffery Bros argued based on Stilk v Myrick that Williams as only providing his contracted duty was not in the benefit of any extra payment, the court of appeal said however that Stilk v Myrick had been refined since the time it was passed, the actions of Williams did provide consideration as he was giving them the practical benefit of Roffery Bros not having to pay the late fees
Atlas Express v Kafco (Importers & Distributors) Ltd [1989]
Atlas compelled Kafco to accept the terms of its offer through duress, even though they had honored the contract,
As in the circumstance they had no other choice, moreover there was no consideration in the for the new agreement as it purely placed Kafco in a worse position, therefore Atlas failed to provide consideration
Collins v Godefroy
One cannot obtain remuneration for a duty one must already fulfil by law, such as paying a witness to attend court, or a police man to arrest a suspect
Pal On v Lau Yiu Long
Based on Lampleigh v Braithwaite
For past consideration to be good consideration 3 conditions must be met;
The act done was at the request of the promisors request,
The parties understood that payment for the act, would be collected at a later date,
The payment or benefit would have been enforceable if agree to prior
Ward v Byham
A man sent his child to live with her mother, it was law at the time the mother was entirely responsible for looking after the child born a bastard.
He paid her 1 pound a week for this, though it was her duty,
However she sued for breach of contract when he stopped,
The courts ruled in favor of the women, that this is breach of contract, because the husband asked as a condition of contract that his daughter be “kept happy,”
This is askign her to do something beyond her duty and therefore the women is giving consideration
