The Historical Development of Mistake in English Contract Law
Date Issued
2015
Date
2015
Author(s)
Tseng, Yi-Hua
Abstract
“Mistakes” occur in our daily life, and mistakes in transactions in particular have been one of the most critical legal issues since ancient times. However, it is difficult to intervene and arbitrate such disputes fairly through legal rules. The legal systems in different countries have quite discrepant conceptions over mistake in contract law as well. England, as the bellwether of the progression for common law system, and for its development in countries with relevant adaption, has played an influential role in the development of regional common European contract law under the trend of harmonization for international contract law. Therefore, it is of great essence to understand the doctrine of mistake in English contract law. Affected by civil law in the mid nineteenth century and with the influence of judicial reforms in the course of its development, the doctrine of mistake in England came into being after the mid nineteenth century. Even till now, it is still in a changing and evolving state. Given confusion for existent doctrine over English contractual mistake, this research, The Historical Development of Mistake in English Contract Law, aims to provide a comprehensive overview from the trace of history. This paper would explore the equitable reliefs arising before the mid nineteenth century, the emergence of the doctrine of mistake affected by civil law, the influence by the modifications of judicial system by the Judicature Act 1873, the judicial acceptance for the doctrine of mistake in twentieth century, and the transition of doctrine itself in twenty-first century. With the progression for the historical development for the doctrine of mistake, the author would introduce leading cases for each period and provide analytical review for the mistakes prototypes and its treatment evolved from each period. After the presentation for both the development and the treatment for various prototypes of mistakes, the paper would further provide a systematic introduction for the provisions on mistake under the international uniform law instruments, including UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts (PICC), Principle of European Contract Law (PECL), Draft Common Frame of Reference (DCFR), and Common European Sales Law (CESL). With the above introduction, the paper would summarize with the development and future directions for the provisions on mistake under these international uniform law instruments, and provide a comparative review between the above provisions and English law. Lastly, final sections of the paper would conclude with the outline for the doctrine of mistake in modern English law and overview of the development of mistake in history. With the reference to the inspiration brought by English law and the common core approach for international uniform law instruments, the author would like to propose propositions and prospects so as to reflect upon for the future development for the law of mistake in Taiwan.
Subjects
mistake
English contract law
mistake in equity
mistake in common law
unilateral mistake
common mistake
shared mistake
mistake as to quality
mistake as to the terms of the contract
mistake as to the subject matter
mistake as to the identity of the party
international uniform law instruments
SDGs
Type
thesis
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