Mistake contract law, Mistake contract law - Common mistake, Mistake contract law - Mistake of identity, Mistake contract law - Mutual mistake, Mistake contract law - Unilateral mistake
A unilateral mistake is where only one party to a contract is mistaken as to the terms or subject-matter. The courts will uphold such a contract unless it was determined that the non-mistaken party was aware of the mistake and tried to take advantage of the mistake.
The leading case on unilateral mistake is Smith v. Hughes (1871).
Mistake contract law - Mistake of identity.
It is also possible for a contract to be voidable if there was a mistake in the identity of the contracting party. In th ...
A mutual mistake is when both parties of a contract are mistaken as to the terms. Each believe they are contracting to something different. The court usually tries to uphold such a mistake if a reasonable interpretation of the terms can be found.
The famous case of the Peerless ship is an example in the case of Raffles v. Wichelhaus, (1864) 2 Hurl. & C. 906. The defendant had made an order for the purchase of cotton for goods arriving on a certain boat Peerless from Bombay leaving in October. However a differe ...
