Initial thoughts
You will see from the list of sources that they are a mixture of case
judgments and sections from books. They all concern the development of
the doctrine of consideration. Each judgment or book extract concerns at
least one ‘rule’ of consideration, or a modification of those rules, so you
should make sure that you have a summary of allof the rules and a note of
any cases which could be used to illustrate them. You may then like to go
through the sources and note down which rules arise in each one.
Read and make notes
- The key to doing well on this paper really is familiarity with both the
area of study and the materials. In this new set of sources, none of the
writing is especially complex in style, so it would make sense to read
them in the order in which they appear in the booklet. - The case which possibly complicates consideration most of all, and
which therefore needs full treatment, is Williams v Roffey. It is worth
studying this in detail and examining exactly why it is so important.
What exactly can be seen as consideration in this case? Why are opinions
so divided on its merits? Some see the case as a welcome willingness on
the part of the Court of Appeal to take a realistic view of the difficulties
in business, especially in the building trade during a difficult time of
recession. Others see it as a bad decision which goes against the rules of
consideration. A third view is that there should not, in modern society,
be a need for consideration, where there is clearly no evidence of duress
and where legal intent exists, so there is therefore no need to ‘find’ it
artificially. Any of these views is equally acceptable in analysing for
examination purposes, but you should be able to consider more than one
view, and be able to explain your opinions in relation to the case(s).
Sources of contract law 281Adapted from The Law of Contract by Paul Richards, Pitman.
Adapted from Key Issues in Contractby John Adams and Roger Brownsword,
Butterworths.
Adapted from the judgment of Lord Scarman inPao On v Lau Yiu Long [1979]
3 All ER 65 PC.
Adapted from the judgment of Viscount Cave LC in Glasbrook Bros Ltd v
Glamorgan County Council [1925] AC 270 HL.
Adapted from the judgment of Purchas LJ in Williams v Roffey Bros & Nicholls
(Contractors) Ltd [1990] 1 All ER 512 CA.
Adapted from the judgment of Russell LJ in Williams v Roffey Bros & Nicholls
(Contractors) Ltd [1990] 1 All ER 512 CA.
Adapted from Law of Contract by W.T. Major and Christine Taylor, Pitman.