Furthermore, they relied on a passage from, At the trial leave to amend particulars will as a rule be refused (, 84 It is axiomatic 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 proceedings has been completed. In Great Peace Shipping Ltd v Tsavliris Salvage (International) Ltd, the English Court of Appeal decided that Solle v Butcher was wrong to hold that there was an equitable doctrine of common mistakes. There is no merit at all in this contention. They proceeded to file their amendments to the statement of claim as if leave had already been given. Unlike instances of fraud, where it is said fraud unravels the existing contract, in instances of unilateral mistake, the very existence of the contract is negatived there is no consensus. Rather, in my opinion, constructive knowledge alone will suffice to invoke equitys conscience. He then carried out some checks on the Yahoo search engine to ascertain whether the printer model existed and whether the laser printer could be sold at more than $66. Nor could he satisfactorily explain why he initially made the Internet searches to ensure the offer was genuine. CLARK, B. They were high-end commercial laser printers. There is therefore no pre-condition in law for a mistaken party to show an absence of carelessness to avail himself of this defence; the law precludes a person from seeking to gain an advantage improperly in such circumstances. That said, it also offers new avenues of evidential proof offering intimate insights into realtime thought processes and reactions. This pricing was a mistake, which was fundamental to the contract and the complainants must have known that this absurdly low pricing was an error by the defendants. This new template was designed to facilitate instantaneous price changes allowing them to be simultaneously reflected in the relevant Internet web pages. The purpose of the amendments was merely to regularise the pleadings and indeed they went no further than to summarise evidence and submissions that had already been raised.
chwee kin keong v digilandmall high court . The evidence incontrovertibly indicates that the first plaintiff himself entertained this view for the entire period he was in communication with the second and third plaintiffs. 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. He claimed he wanted to find out how much profit he could make. Other Jurisdictions. Case law chwee kin keong v digilandmallcom pte ltd. School Nanyang Technological University; Course Title ACC 1301; Uploaded By saint_huimin. Registered office: Creative Tower, Fujairah, PO Box 4422, UAE. The brief will discuss whether a tort of invasion of privacy should be developed by the courts. It is unequivocally unethical conduct tantamount to sharp practice. 79 The second, third and fifth plaintiffs tried their best to distance themselves from the quotes attributed to them. The fact that it may have been negligent is not a relevant factor in these proceedings. The following excerpts are particularly relevant: Desmond: 13/01/20 01:17 go hp online now. Having expressed my views on consideration, I should also add for good measure that, in any event, there is ample consideration. This is in contrast to the English position where after several decades Hartog v Colin & Shields still remains the locus classicus. Between 3.13am and 4.00am the second plaintiff revisited the website four times placing four further orders for 20 laser printers each time. While commercial entities ought not to be given a licence to relax their vigilance, the policy considerations in refusing to enforce mistaken agreements militate against attaching undue weight to the carelessness involved in spawning the mistake. In a, WHILE surfing the Net at about 2am on Monday, MrTan Wei Teck stumbled upon an offer, 82 The plaintiffs strenuously opposed the defendants amendments principally on the ground it was made at a late juncture. I must add that these were far from being ordinary printers for home use. Indeed, I am satisfied to the contrary. Indeed this appears to be the underlying rationale for the unique legal characteristics attributed to an invitation to treat; see Grainger & Son v Gough [1896] AC 325 at 333334, Esso Petroleum Ltd v Commissioners of Customs & Excise [1976] 1All ER 117 at 126.
An FAQ guide to electronic contracts in Singapore - Lexology When notified and satisfied that this transaction was successful as well, he placed a final order at 4.21am for ten laser printers on the HP website, charging this to his credit card. The following excerpt is particularly significant and compelling: 23 The subsequent exchange further clarifies that the first plaintiff was fully conscious of the potential profit element arising from the purchase of a substantial number of the laser printers. Cases of fraud and misrepresentation, and undue influence, are all catered for under other existing and uncontentious equitable rules. The price of the laser printer, prior to 3.36pm on 8January 2003, was stipulated as $3,854 (exclusive of GST) on both the Digilandmall and HP websites (the websites), and as $3,448 on the Digiland commerce website. Computer glitches can cause transmission failures, garbled information or even change the nature of the information transmitted. After hearing their evidence, observing them and considering the submissions made on their behalf, there was no doubt in my mind that they were fully conscious that an unfortunate and egregious mistake had indeed been made by the defendant. CHWEE KIN KEONG v DIGILANDMALL.COM Pte Ltd (2005) SGCA 2. Cases of fraud and misrepresentation, and undue influence, are all catered for under other existing and uncontentious equitable rules. In addition, Tan Cheng Peng, the girlfriend and business associate of the third plaintiff, filed an affidavit detailing her communications with him. The rules of offer and acceptance are satisfied and the parties are of one mind.
clout_case_500 - UNCITRAL There must be consensus ad idem. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not reflect the views of LawTeacher.net. The decision of V.K. The High Court of Australia in Taylor v Johnson purportedly relied on Solle v Butcher, Bell v Lever Brothers, Limited [1932] AC 161, McRae v Commonwealth Disposals Commission (1951) 84CLR 377, all cases of common mistake, to suggest that in unilateral mistake a contracting party cannot assert, by relying on his own mistake, that a contract is void, notwithstanding the issue is fundamental or known to the other side. Having said that, this exception must always be prudently invoked and judiciously applied; the exiguous scope of this exception is necessary to give the commercial community confidence that commercial transactions will almost invariably be honoured when all the objective contractual indicia are satisfied. Abstract The decision of V.K. The neutral citation of the case Chwee Kin Keong and others v Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd is as follows: This citation tells us that this was the 71st case in 2004 decided in the Singapore High Court. In this case, there was no consensus ad idem or meeting of the minds between the parties, which meant that there could be no binding contract between them. Needless to say, this goes to the very heart of the claims sustainability. A court is not likely to take a sympathetic view of such manner of amendment. 65 He was particularly circumspect in recounting his communications with the second plaintiff. The elements of an offer and acceptance are, 139 Next, the defendant contends that no consideration passed from the plaintiffs to them. Here are some examples of case citations for other jurisdictions. Though both of them admit to having had discussions about the website terms and conditions governing the purchases, they deny that there was any discussion between them on even the possibility of an error having taken place. Examples of such mistakes would include (a)human error (b)programming of software errors and (c)transmission problems in the communication systems. The fact that it may have been negligent is not a relevant factor in these proceedings. The decision of the British Columbia Court of Appeal in, 25 The law of mistake was discussed in depth by McLachlinCJBC in. They have taken into account both the English and Australian authorities in distilling the jurisprudence in this area. This cannot be right.
Offer and acceptance - The analysis is structured around the Scorpio: 13/01/20 01:33 as many as I can! If coherence is to be restored to this area of our law, it can only be by declaring that there is no jurisdiction to grant rescission of a contract on the ground of common mistake where that contract is valid and enforceable on ordinary principles of contract law. Someone referred me to the HP website which shows the price of this HP Colour LaserJet 4600 Series as S$66.00. 85 Having stated the general rule, it is imperative that the rationale underlying this approach be understood. Different protocols may result in messages arriving in an incomprehensible form. When pressed why he asked MsToh to do this research, the fifth plaintiffs response was unsatisfactory.
Chwee KIN Keong AND Others v Digilandmall.COM PTE LTD [2004 ] SGHC 71 e-Archive | SAcLJ | AP Journals Online Case name. There could be different considerations. Has an agreement been reached or not? 135 The defendant however asserts that there were no concluded contracts with any of the plaintiffs on a number of grounds. 24 While the first plaintiff conceded that he had communicated to the second and third plaintiffs the existence of a good deal, he maintained he did not discuss the possibility of the pricing being a mistake. The defendants wanted to sell some hare skins to the plaintiffs. In evidence he explained his conduct in the following manner: I felt that I had done all that was conceivably within my means to ensure that the Price was not a mistake.
Chwee Kin Keong Vs | PDF - Scribd After establishing from the web pages that the price quoted for the laser printer was indeed $66, he proceeded to make searches through search engines like Yahoo and visited the website of Hardware.com. Rajah J.C. in the Singapore High Court in Chwee Kin Keong v. Digilandmall.com Pte. In principle, there is no difference between amending particulars and amending say, a cause of action, defence or any other part of substance in a pleading.
Chwee Kin Keong v Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd | India Contract Law 127 The attempt to conflate the concept of common law mistake and the equitable jurisdiction over mistake is understandable but highly controversial. 89 In the circumstances, I had little hesitation in allowing the amendments sought by the defendant. Chwee Kin Keong and others v Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd [2005] 1 SLR(R) 502; [2005] SGCA 2. He placed his first order for 50 units at about 2.58am, and his second order for another 50 units at 3.22am, again through the HP website. The amounts ordered and the hurried and hasty manner in which the orders were executed are of cardinal importance. 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. He is 32 years old and conducts his own network marketing business. 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. In Chwee Kin Keong and ors v Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd, 5 VK Rajah JC, as His Honour then was, decided against the rule-based approach in Moss v Malings. He worked in an accounting firm, Ernst and Young, for three years.
Contract Acceptance by Email - LawTeacher.net If the common law continues to take precedence, then an essential mistake would void a contract ab initio. Once again, however, this does not deprive E of his legal remedies; nor does it avail V if he wishes to recover property which he may have transferred under the contract. What amounts to snapping up is a question of degree that will incorporate a spectrum of contextual factors: what is objectively and subjectively known, the magnitude of the transaction(s), the circumstances in which the orders are placed and whether any unusual factors are apparent. 94 Historically, the common law has recognised an anomaly in the contractual features pertaining to a display of goods for sale. The issue could be critical where third party rights are in issue as in Shogun. The other school of thought views the approach outlined earlier with considerable scepticism. Administration law is the actions made by a government, which adversely affects an individual. The law of mistake has generated its own genre of mistakes and obfuscation. 153 These statements of jurisprudence are of cardinal importance in understanding and fashioning the law of contract. Alternatively, knowledge may be readily inferred from what would be regarded as commonly known or notorious facts in the context of the transaction. Scorpio: 13/01/20 01:43 yeah man whats the original price?
Case Update: B2C2 Ltd v Quoine Pte Ltd [2019] SGHC(I) 3; Quoine v B2C2 39 The sequence of orders placed by the second plaintiff in the short space of an hour and a half deserves some mention. http://www.buy.hp.com.sg/hp/StandardProduct.cfm?prodid=HPC9960A. The payment mode opted for was cash on delivery. Yet in other aspects, he could recollect, with crystal clear precision and clarity, details of what had transpired. Therefore, administrative law encompasses Is the Right to Privacy Adequately Protected? Nor is it disputed that Samuel Teo, or any of the other employees of the defendant, was unaware at all material times of the dramatic chain of events so unwittingly initiated by the former. Amendments after conclusion of submissions. I have found that the plaintiffs had at all material times knowledge of or, at the very least, a real belief that an error had been made by the defendant in the price posting. As part of its business, it operates a website owned by Hewlett Packard (HP) at http://www.buyhp.com.sg (the HP website) where only HP products are sold. Two issues had arisen. Claiming he was in a light-hearted kind of mood during his ICQ (acronym for I-Seek-You) conversation with Desmond, he insisted that this conversation should be taken neither seriously nor literally. Quite apart from this singularly precise timing, his exchange with Ms Toh is noteworthy for the following reason: when he told her about the various concluded purchases of the laser printers, she immediately thought it was a mistake and that HP would not honour the contracts. 132 It can be seen from this brief excursus into the law of mistake that this is an abstruse area. The initial order for 30 laser printers was placed at round 3.45am while the second order for 300 units was placed at around 3.53am. The case of, The offer was wrongly expressed, and the defendants by their evidence, and by the correspondence, have satisfied me that the plaintiff, 116 The term snapping up was aptly coined by JamesLJ in, 117 It should be emphasised that this stream of authority is consistently recognised by all the major common law jurisdictions. - Rebutting presumption: "The question [whether or not there is a binding contract] must depend on the He has incorporated an Internet business Dreamcupid in which the second plaintiff has an interest. 131 In a number of cases, including the present, it may not really matter which view is preferred. On the issue of his actual knowledge and communications with the other plaintiffs at the material time, I found his evidence unsatisfactory. Introduction The decision of V.K. It would be fair to say that such a person should not have any legitimate expectation that the contract in question will be either respected or sanctioned by court. It is essential that the law be perceived as embodying rationality and fairness while respecting the commercial imperative of certainty. I even went to both the HP Web-Site as well as the DigilandMall Web-site to see if the prices were the same. 60 Prior to placing his order, he was again contacted by the second plaintiff. 3. 105 It is not only reasonable but right that the objective appearance of a contract should not operate in favour of a party who is aware, in the eyes of the law, of the true state of affairs when, for instance, there is real misapprehension on the part of the mistaken party and when the actual reality of the situation is starkly obvious.
The Postal Acceptance Rule in the Digital Age - ResearchGate Gill & Duffus Landauer Ltd v London Export Corp GmbH [1982] 2 Lloyd's Rep. 627. I categorically reject their evidence in so far as it attempts to hermetically compartmentalise their knowledge and discussions. He holds an accounting degree from NTU. It cannot also be seriously argued that there was no intention to enter into a legal relationship. 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. . This is a matter perhaps best left to law reform rather than to incremental judge-made law which may sow the seeds of confusion and harvest the returns of uncertainty. This can be supported by the decision of the High Court of Singapore in the case of Chwee Kin Keong v. Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd, in which Judicial Commissioner Rajah argued that "the party who selects the means of communication should bear the consequences of any unexpected events" . Others do not. After hearing their evidence, observing them and considering the submissions made on their behalf, there was no doubt in my mind that they were fully conscious that an unfortunate and egregious mistake had indeed been made by the defendant. 71 The sixth plaintiffs position can be dealt with very briefly. The text of the e-mail further reinforces the point.
Hwa Lai Heng Ricky v DBS Bank Ltd and another appeal and another The modern approach in contract law requires very little to find the existence of consideration.
"Unilateral Mistake in Contract: Five Degrees of Fusion of Common Law a 42 Mark Yeow Kinn Keong has a Bachelor of Science (Economics) degree from the University of London. Rajah J.C. in the Singapore High Court in Chwee Kin Keong v. Digilandmall.com Pte. The present article analyses the many important issues that are raised by what is probably the first case on Internet mistake - the Singapore High Court decision of Chwee Kin Keong v Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd [2004] 2 SLR 594. It appears that it wanted to leave no stone unturned and had therefore mounted a root and branch attack on the plaintiffs claims. 129 The careful analysis of case law undertaken by that court yields a cogent and forceful argument that Lord DenningMR was plainly attempting to side-step Bell v Lever in a naked attempt to achieve equitable justice in the face of the poverty of the common law.
[2005] SGCA 2 - eLitigation The reach of and potential response(s) to such an advertisement are however radically different. We are, Our conclusion is that it is impossible to reconcile, In this case we have heard full argument, which has provided what we believe has been the first opportunity in this court for a full and mature consideration of the relation between, 129 The careful analysis of case law undertaken by that court yields a cogent and forceful argument that Lord DenningMR was plainly attempting to side-step, 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.
Chwee Kin Keong v Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd [2005] - YouTube 54 The fourth plaintiff admits that he had entertained the idea at the material time that the price posting could have been an error. There can be no other reasonable explanation. The essence is not so much in the nature of the amendment but rather in the consequences flowing from any amendment to the pleadings. . I invited both parties to indicate if they wished to amend their pleadings.
Tiong Min Yeo - SSRN 97 Different rules may apply to e-mail transactions and worldwide web transactions. While commercial entities ought not to be given a licence to relax their vigilance, the policy considerations in refusing to enforce mistaken agreements militate against attaching undue weight to the carelessness involved in spawning the mistake. His revelation that he did not know if this is an error or whether HP will honour this purchase, not to mention the articulation of his hope that by the time you see this email, the price is still at S$66.00, 27 The first plaintiff obviously took the view that the advertisement should be acted upon urgently.
Unilateral Mistake in Contract: Five Degrees of Fusion of - Jstor A court will not enforce the plaintiffs purported contracts even if they are not void. Often the essence of good business is the use of superior knowledge. He is also a director and shareholder in a company engaging in wholesale trade, together with the second and third plaintiffs. The credit card payments had not been processed. Chwee Kin Keong vs Digilandmall.com - Free download as Powerpoint Presentation (.ppt / .pptx), PDF File (.pdf), Text File (.txt) or view presentation slides online. They are not mechanical rules to be applied in a vacuum, devoid of a contextual setting. He classifies mistake in the following manner at 386: If attention is fixed merely on the factual situations, there are three possible types of mistake: common, mutual and unilateral. 101 RSS Intellectual Property Office of Singapore Expand/Collapse. Singapore Court of Appeal. 55 The fourth plaintiff is technologically savvy and runs an Internet business with the second plaintiff. Vincent. 118 The Canadian courts have been the most active common law courts explicating and developing this area of the law. The law of agency and that pertaining to the formation of contracts are expressly recognised in s13(8) of the ETA as continuing to apply to electronic transactions. They even discussed the possible scenario of the defendant not honouring the transactions. In the fifth plaintiffs affidavit evidence, he asserted emphatically and unequivocally that at no point did I ever think that the price of the printers were a mistake.
[2004] SGHC 71 - eLitigation Because it was simply a matter of time before the error would inevitably be noticed and the pricing inevitably corrected. The fifth plaintiff was also a member of this bridge group. They are all well-educated professionals articulate, entrepreneurial and, quite bluntly, streetwise and savvy individuals. The recipients of this e-mail included the second, fourth, fifth plaintiffs and Tan Cheng Peng, the third plaintiffs girlfriend.
Contract Formation and Mistake in Cyberspace - the Singapore Experience In turn, the ICQ chat session involving the first plaintiff and the respective plaintiffs exchange of e-mails played a significant role in undermining their credibility and claims.
To that extent, his evidence that he subsequently dismissed the notion altogether is unacceptable. Chwee Kin Keong v Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd [2004] 2 SLR(R) 594; [2004] 2 SLR 594 (refd) Gay Choon Ing v Loh Sze Ti Terence Peter [2009] 2 SLR(R) 332; [2009] 2 SLR 332 The knowledge that the offer is not meant according to its literal terms simply displaces the objective theory of contract. He appears to have been in constant communication with the second plaintiff and to have received and read the mass e-mail from the first plaintiff after he placed his first purchase order. Loose language may result in inadvertently establishing contractual liability to a much wider range of purchasers than resources permit. They were selling a HP laser printer and an employee accidently made a mistake as to the price of the printer on their website. In some unusual circumstances where a unilateral mistake exists, the law can find a contract on terms intended by the mistaken party. It will firstly discuss the fact that such a tort Our academic writing and marking services can help you! E-mails are processed through servers, routers and Internet service providers. 9 The defendants assertion that Samuel Teo had neither the authority nor the intention to make any alterations to the laser printers price is now accepted by the plaintiffs. 69 The sixth plaintiff was awakened by his brother, the third plaintiff, at about 3.00am. The businessmen saw a great opportunity and grabbed it placing an order for 1,000 printers. After further sms exchanges, the second plaintiff contacted the fifth plaintiff on his mobile phone, urging him to return home to access the e-mail message he had just sent. Given that he left everything in the third plaintiffs hands, his legal position is, to that extent, identical to the third plaintiffs. Failure to do so could also result in calamitous repercussions. 92 The Electronics Transaction Act (Cap88, 1999Rev Ed) (ETA) places Internet contractual dealings on a firmer footing. 10 News of the rather extraordinary laser printer pricing began to spread like wildfire within the local Internet community. Pginas: 93: High Court - Suit n 202 of 2003. The defendant is therefore entitled to recover in full its taxed costs from the plaintiffs. A steady stream of decisions from common law courts indicate a measured but nevertheless distinctly incremental willingness to extend the scope of the exception to not just actual knowledge, but deemed or constructive knowledge as well. It appears that he was also in touch with the fifth plaintiff as evidenced by an e-mail sent later that morning by the fifth plaintiff to both him and the second plaintiff containing research on what companies who had made similar Internet errors did. This can result from human interphasing, machine error or a combination of such factors. , In unilateral mistake, only one of the parties is mistaken. The court has to be astute and adopt a pragmatic and judicious stance in resolving such issues. In common mistake, both parties make the same mistake. It is therefore incumbent on the web merchant to protect himself, as he has both the means to do so and knowledge relating to the availability of any product that is being marketed. Chwee Kin Keong decision - Chwee Kin Keong and Others v Digilandmall Pte Ltd [2004] 2 SLR 594; - Studocu Caso chwee kin keong and others digilandmall.com pte ltd slr sghc 71 suit no: suit decision 12 apr 2004 date: court: coram: counsel: high court rajah jc tan sok IgnorarExperimenta 'Pergunta a um Especialista' Pergunta a um especialista Take a look at some weird laws from around the world! 49 Tan Cheng Pengs brief evidence did not really assist the third plaintiff.
(PDF) Unilateral Mistake in Contract: Five Degrees of - ResearchGate (2d) Chwee Kin Keong v Digilandmall [2004 ] SGHC 71 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.