If a party fails to perform a promise in a contract, it is in breach and liable to pay damages. But some breaches of contract not only entitle the injured party to claim damages, but also to put an end to the contract. The nature of the term becomes important when considering the right to terminate. This chapter discusses the meaning and scope of conditions, warranties, and innominate terms. A party may terminate a contract for breach of condition, but never for breach of warranty. Terms that are neither conditions nor warranties are called ‘innominate’ terms. It may be possible to terminate a contract for breach of an innominate term if the breach is sufficiently serious. Breaches which justify termination are often called ‘repudiatory breaches’. The chapter also considers express termination clauses and another difficult sense in which the term ‘condition’ is used, namely to denote an ‘entire obligation’.
Chapter
25. Conditions, warranties, and innominate terms
Chapter
Hong Kong Fir Shipping Co. Ltd v Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd [1962] 2 QB 26
Essential Cases: Contract Law provides a bridge between course textbooks and key case judgments. This case document summarizes the facts and decision in Hong Kong Fir Shipping Co. Ltd v Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd [1962] 2 QB 26, Court of Appeal. The document also includes supporting commentary from author Nicola Jackson.
Chapter
Hong Kong Fir Shipping Co. Ltd v Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd [1962] 2 QB 26
Essential Cases: Contract Law provides a bridge between course textbooks and key case judgments. This case document summarizes the facts and decision in Hong Kong Fir Shipping Co. Ltd v Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd [1962] 2 QB 26, Court of Appeal. The document also includes supporting commentary from author Nicola Jackson.
Chapter
4. Terms of the Contract
The Concentrate Questions and Answers series offers the best preparation for tackling exam questions. Each book includes typical questions, answer plans and suggested answers, author commentary, and other features. This chapter explores the terms of the contract. It contains questions and answers concerning express and implied terms, how terms are to be identified, and how they are to be classified in order to determine what consequences flow from their breach. The chapter also considers two key debates: the basis on which the courts imply terms into contracts, and whether the courts approach the classification of terms highlights a tension in the law between certainty and justice.
Chapter
5. Positive terms
Without assuming prior legal knowledge, books in the Directions series introduce and guide readers through key points of law and legal debate. Questions, diagrams and exercises help readers to engage fully with each subject and check their understanding as they progress. The terms of the contract give substance to the contractual parties’ obligations. They lay down what each party is expected to do in performance of his obligations, and so it is crucial in any dispute to first establish the terms of the contract before looking to see whether one party has failed to perform his obligations. This chapter focuses on the positive terms of the contract. The discussions cover terms and representations; collateral warranties; implied terms; and conditions, warranties and innominate terms and the significance of the remedies, including termination, attached to each.
Chapter
5. Positive terms
Without assuming prior legal knowledge, books in the Directions series introduce and guide readers through key points of law and legal debate. Questions, diagrams and exercises help readers to engage fully with each subject and check their understanding as they progress. The terms of the contract give substance to the contractual parties’ obligations. They lay down what each party is expected to do in performance of his obligations, and so it is crucial in any dispute to first establish the terms of the contract before looking to see whether one party has failed to perform his obligations. This chapter focuses on the positive terms of the contract. The discussions cover terms and representations; collateral warranties; implied terms; and conditions, warranties and innominate terms and the significance of the remedies, including termination, attached to each.
Chapter
15. Breach of contract
Repudiation and the right to terminate
This chapter examines how English law defines breach of contract and what the immediate effect of breach is on the validity of the contract, along with the obligations of the parties under the contract. It first considers the core principles underlying the law’s approach to defining breach before explaining how the courts assess performance and the consequences of breach, with particular emphasis on cases involving repudiation. It then discusses three types or classes of contractual terms: conditions, warranties, and innominate terms. It also looks at how the law deals with situations of anticipatory breach and concludes with an analysis of the scope and limits of the right of a party to terminate the contract following a repudiatory breach by the other party.
