WJEC/Eduqas Law for A level Book 2 Revision Guide

Misrepresentation and economic duress Build your revision notes around… • Misrepresentation: • A false statement in a contract that can cause the contract to be voidable • A statement of material fact, made by one party to a contract to the other party, during the negotiations leading up to the formation of the contract, which was intended to, and did, operate as an inducement under the contract, and which was untrue or incorrectly stated • Fraudulent misrepresentation : fraud must be proved: Derry v Peak (1889) but overruled by the Companies Act 2006 • Remedies: damages according to tort and the Misrepresentation Act 1967 and rescission • Negligent misrepresentation : the principle in Hedley Byrne v Heller & Partners (1964) • Three requirements: knowledge, proximity, reliance • Remedies: damages according to tort measure of negligence and the Misrepresentation Act 1967 • Innocent misrepresentation : Misrepresentation Act 1967 : only claims where a party believes their untrue statements to be true. • Remedies: rescission and damages under the Misrepresentation Act 1967 • Misrepresentation under statute : s2(1) Misrepresentation Act 1967 • No need to prove fraud or special relationship under the Hedley Byrne criteria • Person making the statement must prove they were not negligent: Howard Marine and Dredging Co Ltd v A Ogden and Sons Ltd (1978) , Spice Girls Ltd v Aprilla World Service (2002 ) • Economic duress : a contract may be set aside because extreme coercion has rendered the contract commercially unviable • Five conditions need to be satisfied: Pressure was exerted on the contracting party: North Ocean Shipping Co v Hyundai Construction Co (1979) [The Atlantic Baron] Pressure was illegitimate: Atlas Express Ltd v Kafco (Importers and Distributors) Ltd (1989) Pressure induced the claimant to enter the contract: Barton v Armstrong (1975) Claimant had no choice but to enter the contract: Universe Tankships v International Transport Workers’ Federation (1983) Claimant protested at the time or shortly after the contract was made: North Ocean Shipping Co v Hyundai Construction Co (1979) [The Atlantic Baron] 19