While this is the general principle for shop displays, it is open to a merchant to offer by way of an advertisement the mechanics of a unilateral or bilateral contract. COOTE, B. Having pointed out 6 that a court 'will generally be cautious if not reluctant to effect any amendments once the hearing has commenced; even more so once the evidential phase of the . 50 Ow Eng Hwee, 29 years old, is another network marketing entrepreneur. Chwee Kin Keong and Others v Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd, Whether amendment of particulars of pleadings at conclusion of submissions allowed, Facts raised in proposed amendments addressed during trial and submissions, Whether promise by buyer to pay for goods, in exchange for delivery of goods, constituted sufficient consideration, Electronic Transactions Act (Cap 88, 1999 Rev Ed), Whether automated e-mail responses from seller amounted to acceptance of buyer's offer, Seller's unilateral mistake as to price of goods posted on website, Whether online buyer entitled to enforce contract against seller, 3 All six plaintiffs are graduates, conversant with the usage of the Internet and its practices and endowed with more than an adequate understanding of business and commercial practices. Borneo United Sawmills Sdn Bhd v. MUI Continental Insurance Bhd (Marine insurance - Loss of goods - Claim for loss of goods under Marine Cargo Policy) [2009] 8 CLJ 217. To my mind, the confirmation through the subsequent searches that the actual price of the laser printer was, in fact, US$2,000 would, if anything, have affirmed his belief that an error had occurred. Ltd.1 has the makings of a student's classic for several reasons: it presents a textbook example of offer and acceptance; it is set in the context of internet contracting; it involves the use in evidence of email, instantaneous messaging, and short messaging system (SMS); and it . This constituted more than a quarter of the total number of laser printers ordered. He worked for a short period in the IT Project Development department of the Standard Chartered Bank, where he became acquainted with the first plaintiff. This provision acknowledges that the essential framework of an electronic contract needs to be considered in the usual manner; in other words, principles of contract formation, consideration, terms and conditions, choice of law and jurisdictional issues need to be examined. The very foundations of predictability, certainty and efficacy, underpinning contractual dealings, will be undermined if the law and/or equity expands the scope of the mistake exception with alacrity or uncertainty. 65 He was particularly circumspect in recounting his communications with the second plaintiff. The terms of the offer are clear and unambiguous and the offeree accepts the offer according to its true sense, Although a mistaken party will not often be able to discharge the onus of showing that the other party, 118 The Canadian courts have been the most active common law courts explicating and developing this area of the law. The payment mode selected by the third plaintiff was cash on delivery. Notwithstanding, the defendant does not take issue with this as the sixth plaintiffs orders were received and the appropriate automated responses generated. This price was much lower than the actual retail price, and had been posted on the defendant's website by mistake. The court held that the acceptance has been completed once it is posted although here, the defendants actually did not receive the letter before they sold it to someone else. There is no doubt that the plaintiffs acted with indecent haste in the dead of the night in placing as many orders as each of them felt their financial resources credibly permitted them to do. By their own admission, they made Internet searches through various search engines to ascertain the profits they could make. Her evidence was inconsequential and did not assist the plaintiffs. To determine the profit potential, the second plaintiff had to take steps to ascertain the true market price of the laser printer which he did. This could account for the substantial number of Canadian cases in this area of the law. HIGH COURT. This was presumably to render the training more lifelike. This contention is wholly untenable. 7191 RSS High Court Expand/Collapse. At the very least, it has been forcefully asserted that even when a mistake does not result in voiding a contract through the application of common law principles, there remains an independent doctrine of mistake founded in equity which justifies judicial intervention. Such conduct is akin to that of an unscrupulous commercial predator seeking to take advantage of an error by an unsuspecting prey by pouncing upon it before the latter has an opportunity to react or raise a shield of defence. 132 It can be seen from this brief excursus into the law of mistake that this is an abstruse area. in the High Court decision of Chwee Kin Keong v Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd,2 from the perspective of economics. CHWEE KIN KEONG and Others v DIGILANDMALL.COM Pte Ltd (2004) 2 SLR 594. reference was made by the court to "fraud or a very high degree of misconduct" before the non- mistaken party could be . The leading Canadian decision in this area is the case of McMaster University v Wilchar Construction Ltd (1971) 22DLR(3d) 9 which, incidentally, was cited with approval by the Australian High Court in Taylor v Johnson. u think this is the 1970s?? All previous discussions and negotiations between the parties proceeded on the basis of the price being fixed at so much per piece. The plaintiffs and the defendant later reached an agreement to dispense with any further oral evidence, save for that of Tan Cheng Peng. COOKE v OXLEY (1790) 3 T. R. 653. It is an important subject for the future development of English contract law. Being fully conscious of the pivotal nature of this point, I have duly accorded particular attention to the evidence and credibility of each of the plaintiffs. It should be noted that while the common law jurisdictions continue to wrestle over this vexed issue, most civil law jurisdictions lean towards the recipient rule. This rationalised the law and gives the court a broad discretion to fashion the applicable relief. 146 A purchaser in a case of apparent unilateral mistake, who purchases for genuine own use a product, may not always be viewed as guilty of engaging in snapping up. He also claimed to have talked to buyers in the market about reselling the laser printers and that the failure to procure the units would tarnish his reputation. [2005] 1 SLR(R) Chwee Kin Keong v Digilandmall Pte Ltd 521. whether constructive knowledge by a non-mistaken party of the mistake would suffice to vitiate the contract ab initio. 77 Soon after the defendant informed the plaintiffs that they did not intend to deliver the laser printers, the plaintiffs took their claims to the press. 31 He admitted receiving a call from the first plaintiff at about 2.00am but claimed the first plaintiff merely apprised him of a good deal. It was found that the plaintiffs must have known or realised that the offer did not express the true intention of the defendants. ThompsonJ of the Ontario High Court applied Hartog v Colin & Shields ([115] supra) and held that the parties were not ad idem and found that no contract had been formed. Upon accessing the Digilandmall website and confirming that the printer was offered there at $66 as well, he placed a further order for 25 laser printers through that website at about 3.29am. The defendant was entitled to stake its entire defence on the basis of common law, though it would have been prudent ex abundanti cautela to have asserted the equitable position in the alternative. He acknowledged having had conversations with the other plaintiffs about how much money we can sell the printer and how much we can make and about storage space as well as how many units we intend to buy. To assert that as a rule, leave to amend particulars will be refused, is both illogical and incorrect. Needless to say, this goes to the very heart of the claims sustainability. Cory had chosen this mode of communication; therefore he He graduated from NTU as a bachelor of business studies, specialising in financial analysis. Where either mutual or unilateral mistake is pleaded, the very existence of agreement is denied. Chwee Kin Keong v Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd [2005] 1 SLR 502: [2005] SGCA 2 Context: This Case deals with the issue of unilateral mistake. Our conclusion is that it is impossible to reconcile Solle v Butcher with Bell v Lever Bros Ltd. It cannot also be seriously argued that there was no intention to enter into a legal relationship. June 16, 2022; Posted by why do chavs wear tracksuits; 16 . While they did not invariably admit that their searches were made prior to each of the respective transactions, it was plain that they did not tell the whole truth about, 149 It is clear from the authorities reviewed that such a contract, if entered into by a party with actual or presumed knowledge of an error, is void from the outset. (See for example the approach in, 142 The plaintiffs were bound by personal relationships as well as past and present common commercial interests. In these proceedings, it appears that the purchases made by the sixth plaintiff were not accompanied by a corresponding receipt of acceptances, as his e-mail inbox was full. This contention is wholly untenable. The fact that it may have been negligent is not a relevant factor in these proceedings. The first, second and third plaintiffs have been friends for a long time and are bound by common business interests. The decision of V.K. He is 32 years old and conducts his own network marketing business. Not all one-sided transactions or bargains are improper. 30 Tan Wei Teck is 30 years old. The e-mail was given a high importance priority and captioned go load it now!!. The defendants wanted to sell some hare skins to the plaintiffs. 4 The defendant is a company that sells information technology (IT) related products over the Internet to consumers. One reason for this is the eternal tension faced by courts and judges alike in seeking a just equilibrium between commercial certainty and justice in a particular case. I must add that these were far from being ordinary printers for home use. The recipients of this e-mail included the second, fourth, fifth plaintiffs and Tan Cheng Peng, the third plaintiffs girlfriend. The elements of an offer and acceptance are ex facie satisfied in every transaction asserted in the plaintiffs claims. Desmond: 13/01/20 01:43 coz the HP laser colour printer sells for at least 3 to 4k outside, Desmond 13/01/20 01:44 from US I heard is about USD 2k, Desmond 13/01/20 01:44 its HP and Laser and Coloured. The decision of the British Columbia Court of Appeal in 25659 BC Ltd v 456795 BC Ltd (1999) 171DLR(4th) 470 at [25] to [26], is instructive: 25 The law of mistake was discussed in depth by McLachlinCJBC in First City Capital Ltd v BC Building Corp (1989), 43BLR 29 (SC). 14 The first, second and fourth plaintiffs became acquainted with each other when they studied at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU). The financial consequences could be considerable. The rules of offer and acceptance are satisfied and the parties are of one mind. He appeared distinctly uncomfortable during several phases of his cross-examination and his answers on crucial points were evasive and often vague.. His evidence in relation to the level and nature of communications he had with the second and third plaintiffs on the morning in question lacked candour. When, however, the cases provoked by these factual situations are analysed, they will be seen to fall, not into three, but only two distinct legal categories. He subsequently sent the web link to the Epinions website to the first and second plaintiffs. *You can also browse our support articles here >. It takes the view that there is no jurisdiction in equity to rescind a contract that is valid at common law, on the basis of mistake. No modern authority was cited to me suggesting an intended commercial transaction of this nature could ever fail for want of consideration. As the reports contradict portions of their present evidence, they have indirectly tried to cast doubt on the accuracy of the reports in so far as the reports referred to them. The law will have to organically adapt itself to respond to new challenges without compromising on certainty and fairness. 56 He vacillated throughout his evidence between a propensity to embellish his evidence on the one hand and to hold back on the other. 110 In OT Africa Line Ltd v Vickers Plc [1996] 1Lloyds Rep 700 at 703, ManceJ held that the objective theory ought not to apply if a party had knowledge that a mistake had occurred: The question is what is capable of displacing that apparent agreement. 80 Upon the conclusion of submissions, I directed counsel to appear before me. But it is difficult to see how that can apply here. In accordance with s15(1) of the ETA, acceptance would be effective the moment the offer enters that node of the network outside the control of the originator. 27 The first plaintiff obviously took the view that the advertisement should be acted upon urgently. They assumed that to be the position. The businessmen saw a great opportunity and grabbed it placing an order for 1,000 printers. Having ascertained the true market price, it would have appeared crystal clear, given the huge disparity in the pricing, that a manifest mistake had occurred. 145 If the price of a product is so absurdly low in relation to its known market value, it stands to reason that a reasonable man would harbour a real suspicion that the price may not be correct or that there may be some troubling underlying basis for such a pricing. 2 [2004] 2 SLR 594 ("the Digilandmall case") (The decision was very recently affirmed by the Singapore Court of Appeal in Chwee Kin Keong v Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd [2005] SGCA 2, albeit on somewhat different grounds and where the focus was on the law of unilateral mistake rather than formation of contract.)]. What is urged is that, owing to a common error as to some fundamental fact, the agreement is robbed of all efficacy. 102 Inevitably mistakes will occur in the course of electronic transmissions. Hence the first plaintiffs cryptically worded but highly significant mass e-mail where he adverted to the fact that he did not know if the defendant would honour the contracts but in any event wished all the recipients good luck. If the common law continues to take precedence, then an essential mistake would void a contract ab initio. Most telling of all, I note that the first to fifth plaintiffs exhibited identical reports in each of their affidavits without any qualification whatsoever. 7 At about 3.36pm, Samuel Teo, an employee of DIL, inadvertently uploaded the contents of the training template onto the Digiland commerce website operated by DIL, in place of the test website allocated for the training. It will firstly discuss the fact that such a tort Our academic writing and marking services can help you! 130 It can be persuasively argued that given (a)the historical pedigree of the cases, (b)the dictates of certainty and predictability in the business community and (c)the general acceptance of the existence of distinct common law rules, it is preferable not to conflate these concepts. Clout issue 43. 101 The applicable rules in relation to transactions over the worldwide web appear to be clearer and less controversial. 133 It is however clear that the law should not take cognisance of bad bargains and misapprehension that do not affect a fundamental or essential aspect of a contractual relationship. The shopping cart website page carried the insertion call to enquire under the heading Availability of product. 59 Upon duly accessing the HP website through the hyperlink sent to him by the second plaintiff, the fifth plaintiff ascertained that the laser printer was priced at $66. 115 There is a distinct line of cases within the narrow confines of unilateral mistake where the common law has been resolutely disinclined to enforce apparent contracts. There is one important exception to this principle. Has an agreement been reached or not? Suggested Citation: Seng, Daniel Kiat Boon, Quoine Pte Ltd v B2C2 Ltd: A Commentary (June 2020). In doing so, they appear to have also conflated equitable and common law concepts. The case of Chwee Kin Keong & Ors v Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd [2004] SGHC 71, and the decision by VK Rajah JC, has received much public attention. Both parties displayed a considerable amount of imagination in dealing with them. It is simply inconceivable that when he entered into the purchase transaction, he did not know, or at the very least did not have a real and abiding belief that the price posting was an error. 72 To effect the purchase transactions on the respective websites, the plaintiffs had to navigate through several web pages. (c) the need to reach commercially sensible solutions while respecting traditional principles applicable to instances of genuine error or mistake. He admitted in cross-examination to being the lawyer for this group of people when they had questions like these in the present proceedings. As for the common law on unilateral mistake, it is claimed that the acid test for its application is not satisfied. He then zealously sent at about 2.58am, an e-mail to 54 persons, all of whom were friends and/or business associates. 42 Mark Yeow Kinn Keong has a Bachelor of Science (Economics) degree from the University of London. Cases of fraud and misrepresentation, and undue influence, are all catered for under other existing and uncontentious equitable rules. 8 The proper description of the laser printer, HPC9660A Color LaserJet 4600, was, as a result of the accident, replaced by the numerals 55; while the numerals 66 replaced the correct price of the laser printer priced at $3,854 and the numerals 77 replaced the original corporate price of the laser printer priced at $3,448.
Sulikov Syn A Minister Skolstva, Articles C
Sulikov Syn A Minister Skolstva, Articles C