The sanctity of contract
What is the idea behind a contract?
In theory it is where two parties come together freely and agree to an exchange.
That pure theory is disrupted by the law and this makes sense. I can't engage in a contract to have someone killed and beyond that the law steps in to protect people with less bargaining power such as consumers and employees.
Where the line between contractual freedom and legal intervention should be drawn is a difficult question to answer and one that the courts engage with on a regular basis. In this week's episode of the podcast the Supreme Court looked at the variation of contracts.
Many commercial contracts contain something called a 'no oral modification' clause that basically means all changes have to be in writing. The problem is that the theoretical freedom of contract allows for oral modifications.
So when an oral modification is made to a contract with such a clause there are two options:
The oral modification is cancelled out by the clause
The oral modification overrides the clause
A simple question but a conundrum for the Justices.
Episode link: http://uklawweekly.com/2018-uksc-24/
Subscribe on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/uk-law-weekly/id1137316725?mt=2