She opined that situations where unilateral mistake had been considered were those involving fraud or a very high degree of misconduct. I reject this. The CISG has currently been adopted by 95 Contracting States world-wide. 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. Forming an Agreement, Offer and Acceptance Flashcards | Quizlet It is germane to observe that none of the cases purporting to follow Solle v Butcher [1950] 1 KB 671 have with any degree of clarity defined the parameters of equitable mistake in contradistinction to a common law mistake. One is hard put to imagine that anyone would purchase such an item, let alone place very substantial orders, without making some very basic enquiries as to pricing. chwee kin keong v digilandmall high court The quintessential approach of the law is to, 106 In the Singapore context, the first port of call when confronted with issues of contract law is inevitably Professor Andrew Phangs treatise on. This gives their courts a broad and elastic jurisdiction to deal with commercially inappropriate behaviour. The law ought to take a practical approach in dealing with such cases if it appears that by exercising reasonable care the true facts ought to be known. Unilateral Mistake at . Court name Singapore High Court. This cannot be right. Thus, 119 It is apparent from this overview that the Canadian courts have integrated through their equitable jurisdiction the concept of common law mistake within the rubric of unconscionability. It had consciously not inserted any limits to the number of products a buyer could purchase again, quite clearly, to solicit more business. 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. Lord Griffiths in, 87 It appeared to me that the extract from, 88 The fact that the amending party has been tardy or even negligent is a factor that a court can (and in some egregious cases, should) take into account but this is by no means a decisive factor (, 95 The known availability of stock could be an important distinguishing factor between a physical sale and an Internet transaction. In addition to the law of (especially, unilateral) mistake, issues relating to the formation of a contract will be considered (including the law relating to offer and . Neither party raised any objections. Websites often provide a service where online purchases may be made. 144 I find, in the alternative, that the plaintiffs, given each of their backgrounds, would in any event, each have separately realised and appreciated, before placing their purchase orders, that a manifest mistake had occurred even if no communications on the error had taken place between them. 13 The first plaintiff, Chwee Kin Keong, is 29 years old. 30th Sep 2021 112 Phang ([106] supra, at 418) rightly observes: It must be stressed that, in this context, a man is taken to have known what would have been obvious to a reasonable person in the light of the surrounding circumstances. The case of Hartog v Colin & Shields [1939] 3All ER 566 is incontrovertibly the leading authority in this area. 154 Interestingly, of the 784 persons who placed 1,008 orders for 4,086 laser printers, only these six plaintiffs have attempted to enforce their purported contractual rights. by the earlier decision of Chwee Kin Keong v Digilandmall.com [2005] 1 SLR(R) 502, where the Court of Appeal recognised the doctrine of unilateral mistake in equity, departing from the English position in Great Peace Shipping Ltd v Tsavliris Salvage (International) Ltd [2003] QB 679; [2002] 3 WLR 1617; [2002] 4 All ER 689. The web merchant, unless he qualifies his offer appropriately, by making it subject to the availability of stock or some other condition precedent, could be seen as making an offer to sell an infinite supply of goods. 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. The answer on the authorities is a mistake by one party of which the other knew or ought reasonably to have known. 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. He is currently a supervisor in the taxation department of an international accounting firm, Deloitte & Touche, specialising in corporate taxation services. 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. He claims visiting, 62 Like the second plaintiff, the fifth plaintiff played a pivotal role in the events leading to these proceedings. This constituted more than a quarter of the total number of laser printers ordered. MrYeow said: After we ordered, the very next day, some of us have even gone up to talk to buyers in the market about the units. Imagine the effect of this negative publicity on your future sales! Comments Published in English: [2004] 2 SLR 594; [2004] SGHC 71. The first and fifth plaintiffs ordered exactly a hundred laser printers each. The fourth plaintiffs single transaction with the Digilandmall website was confirmed by a similar automated response stating Successful Purchase Confirmation from Digilandmall. The first issue dealt with references made by the plaintiffs to certain embargoed material. Similar works. "Unilateral Mistake in Law and Equity: Solle v Butcher Reinstated" by 38 The second plaintiff came across as intelligent and resourceful. There are persuasive arguments against extending the litmus test of unconscionability to all mistake-type situations. As part of its business, it operates a website owned by Hewlett Packard (HP) at, 16 When the first plaintiff eventually succeeded in accessing the HP website, he immediately placed an order for 100 laser printers at about, 17 Having called the second and third plaintiffs at about. As this is a critical issue, it is imperative that each of their positions be carefully evaluated. 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. Further, the character of the mistake was such that any reasonable person similarly circumstanced as each of the plaintiffs would have had every reason to believe that a manifest error had occurred. It is postulated by many of the leading treatises that equity has a broad church incorporating a more elastic approach and a court of equity may rescind a contract, award damages or, in limited circumstances, fashion a remedy, to suit the justice of the matter. In this case, Defendant was selling IT products over internet in Singapore. The web page entitled checkout order confirmation had a notation stating the earliest date on which we can deliver all the products to you is based on the longest estimated time of stock availability plus the delivery lead time. 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. The law will have to organically adapt itself to respond to new challenges without compromising on certainty and fairness. In other words, he really wanted to ascertain the true price of the laser printer. It is important not to force into a Procrustean bed principles that have to be modified or discarded when considering novel aspects of the Internet. Chwee Kin Keong vs Digilandmall.com They even discussed the possible scenario of the defendant not honouring the transactions. It was found that the plaintiffs must have known or realised that the offer did not express the true intention of the defendants. . (c) the need to reach commercially sensible solutions while respecting traditional principles applicable to instances of genuine error or mistake. chwee kin keong and others digilandmall.com pte ltd sghc 71 case number suit decision date 12 april 2004 high court coram rajah jc counsel name(s) tan sok ling Skip to document Ask an Expert Sign inRegister Sign inRegister Home Ask an ExpertNew My Library Discovery Institutions Republic Polytechnic London School of Business and Finance The reach of and potential response(s) to such an advertisement are however radically different. 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. 47 Not content with making his own purchases, he woke up his brother and transacted 330 units on his behalf. In the Singapore context a similar approach has been adopted by the Court of Appeal in, 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. That is sufficient in these circumstances. 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. Case Summary I drew counsels attention to Halsburys Laws of Australia (Butterworths, 1992), vol6 at para 110-5550 which states: A particular class of case which illustrates unilateral mistake as to the terms intended, known to the other party, is that in which an offer which would be very advantageous to the offeree is snapped up by the offeree. 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. When considering the appropriate rule to apply, it stands to reason that as between sender and receiver, the party who selects the means of communication should bear the consequences of any unexpected events. 113 The English Court of Appeal in Commission for the New Towns v Cooper (Great Britain) Ltd [1995] Ch 259, a case of common mistake, imported the concept of Nelsonian knowledge and applied the framework of various categories of knowledge outlined by Peter GibsonJ in Baden v Societe Generale pour Favoriser le Developpement du Commerce et de lIndustrie en FranceSA [1993] 1 WLR 509. High Court Suit No 202 of 2003. Date of Verdicts: 12 April 2004, 13 January 2005. The following excerpts are particularly relevant: Desmond: 13/01/20 01:17 go hp online now. [emphasis added]. It does not purport to regulate e-commerce but attempts to facilitate the usage of e-commerce by equating the position of electronic records with that of written records, thus elevating the status of electronic signatures to that of legal signatures. He also called the first plaintiff to see if the latter had managed to successfully complete his purchase. 54 The fourth plaintiff admits that he had entertained the idea at the material time that the price posting could have been an error. What is urged is that, owing to a common error as to some fundamental fact, the agreement is robbed of all efficacy. In some unusual circumstances where a unilateral mistake exists, the law can find a contract on terms intended by the mistaken party. This is clearly a mistake as they could not possible be sold for an amount that in a commercial situation. He placed another order for a further 150 printers at 3.14am, followed by two further orders for 300 printers each at about 3.56am and 3.59am. The reason for this inconsistent conduct surfaced later. It appears there were a series of sms messages between them and at least a few telephone discussions while the purchases were being effected. Rajah J.C. in the Singapore High Court in Chwee Kin Keong v. Digilandmall.com Pte. 147 It is improper for a party who knows, believes or ought, objectively speaking, to have known of a manifest error to seek commercial benefit from such an error. Olley v Marlborough Court [1949] 1 KB 532 Omnium D'Enterprises v . It cannot also be seriously argued that there was no intention to enter into a legal relationship. The financial consequences could be considerable. It argues that the decision is both fair and economically grounded, and proposes an alternative view to that offered by classical contract law - one that sees fairness intertwined Chwee Kin Keong and Others v Pte Ltd PDF fileChwee Kin This case is a paradigm example of an error on the human side. "Unilateral Mistake at Common Law and in Equity" by Kelvin Fatt Kin LOW Indeed, I am satisfied to the contrary. The complainants had ordered over 100 printers each at this price. 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. 29 The first plaintiff struck me as an opportunistic entrepreneur. There were no such discussions with potential buyers. Though he initially denied this in cross-examination, he had to accept this when confronted with his own e-mail as irrefutable evidence. Judgments >> CA The fifth plaintiff was also a member of this bridge group. 78 In a Channel NewsAsia report datelined 15January 2003, it was reported that: Two of the customers, Mark Yeow and Malcolm Tan, have already spoken to their lawyers. Typical transactions are usually but not invariably characterised by (a)indecent alacrity; and (b)behaviour that any fair-minded commercial person similarly circumstanced would regard as a patent affront to commercial fairplay or morality. This is much closer to the truth than the picture he has tried to paint in these proceedings. There was no satisfactory reason for the genesis of this e-mail (see [67] infra). Web merchants ought to ensure that they either contract out of the receipt rule or expressly insert salient terms within the contract to deal with issues such as a choice of law, jurisdiction and other essential terms relating to the passing of risk and payment. This assertion is patently untrue. clout_case_500 - UNCITRAL The brief will discuss whether a tort of invasion of privacy should be developed by the courts. These statements are not to be interpreted as a clarion call to rewrite commercial agreements because of a partys unreasonable or ignoble behaviour. He somewhat muddied the authority of his observations by apparently accepting in Gallie v Lee [1969] 2 Ch 17 at 33 (affirmed on appeal in Saunders v Anglia Building Society [1971] AC 1004) that in Cundy v Lindsay there was no contract at all. It is not in dispute that the defendant made a genuine error. Desmond intimated that the defendant would give vouchers or special deals as a matter of equitable compensation should it not honour the purchase orders. It appears that it wanted to leave no stone unturned and had therefore mounted a root and branch attack on the plaintiffs claims. This is approved in a Singaporean case, Chwee Kin Keong v Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd . 79 The second, third and fifth plaintiffs tried their best to distance themselves from the quotes attributed to them. But that, surely, is a question as to where the common law should draw the line; not whether, given the common law rule, it needs to be mitigated by application of some other doctrine. In Chwee Kin Keong v. Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd ,1 one of the defendant's employees mistakenly uploaded the contents of a training template onto the defendant's website, resulting in the retail price of S$3,854 for a commercial laser printer on the website being replaced with the figure S$66. http://www.epinions.com/HP_Color_LaserJet_4600_Series_Printer_Printers. They want Digiland to honour the deal or at least to compensate them. 100 There is however another statute that ought to be taken into consideration in determining the appropriate default rule in e-commerce transactions. V K Rajah JC. June 16, 2022; Posted by why do chavs wear tracksuits; 16 . 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. Singapore Law Blog 150 The plaintiffs have contended that this court ought to follow the decision in Taylor v Johnson and hold that the contract is not void under common law but voidable only in equity. This thread helps to rationalise the development of the common law but ought not to be viewed as supporting the existence of a general test of commercial morality tantamount to the test of unconscionability invoked by equity. He was aware that the laser printers were targeted for business use. Case name. The fact that it may have been negligent is not a relevant factor in these proceedings. Examples of such mistakes would include (a)human error (b)programming of software errors and (c)transmission problems in the communication systems. This can be before or during the trial, or after judgment or on appeal. 18 He said he later conducted some searches using the Google search engine and ascertained that the laser printer could be sold at about US$1,300 in certain markets. The modern approach in contract law requires very little to find the existence of consideration. The law may not imply a condition precedent as to the availability of stock simply to bail out an Internet merchant from a bad bargain, a fortiori in the sale of information and probably services, as the same constraints as to availability and supply may not usually apply to such sales. The programme trigger on that website automatically and instantaneously initiated the insertion of similar contents onto all three websites. NZULR, vol. He offered no plausible explanation for the series of orders which he placed while he was in communication with the other plaintiffs, other than stating audaciously that he had to buy a lot to sell a lot, to get a lot. There are in this connection two schools of thought. 83 The defendant maintained that there was no element of surprise and/or prejudice arising from the amendments. Chwee Kin Keong vs Digilandmall.com - Free download as Powerpoint Presentation (.ppt / .pptx), PDF File (.pdf), Text File (.txt) or view presentation slides online. 12 The plaintiffs both collectively and individually maintained adamantly that while they thought that the price of $66 appeared to be a good deal they did not think that the website prices had been mistakenly placed or inserted. [2004] SGHC 71 - eLitigation Chwee Kin Keong v Digilandmall.com (2005) - Singaporean case 3d printers sold for $66 instead of $3,800. 103 The amalgam of factors a court will have to consider in risk allocation ought to include: (a) the need to observe the principle of upholding rather than destroying contracts, (b) the need to facilitate the transacting of electronic commerce, and. They contended that the entire ICQ conversation, infused with such a jocular tone, should be disregarded. The third plaintiff informed him that laser printers were being sold at $66 each and that these laser printers could be sold at a much higher price about a thousand plus. 127 The attempt to conflate the concept of common law mistake and the equitable jurisdiction over mistake is understandable but highly controversial. CISG-online is a research platform dedicated to the law and practice of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods adopted in Vienna on 11 April 1980 (CISG), as well as related areas of international commercial law. Quoine was operating as a market-maker on their own platform. Unilateral Mistake at Common Law and In Equity 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. The effect of Solle v Butcher [1950] 1 KB 671 is not to supplement or mitigate the common law: it is to say that Bell v Lever Bros Ltd was wrongly decided. Court reference 202 of 2003. The essence is not so much in the nature of the amendment but rather in the consequences flowing from any amendment to the pleadings. By their own admission, they made Internet searches through various search engines to ascertain the profits they could make. His communications with the fifth plaintiff, a lawyer, on the efficacy of the terms and conditions also lead to the ineluctable conclusion that he harboured anxieties whether this astoundingly good deal would be honoured when the error was discovered. There is however much to be said in favour of rationalising the law of mistake under a single doctrine incorporating the best elements of common law and equity. Has an agreement been reached or not? 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. It is, in large measure, determined by making an objective appraisal of the exchanges between the parties. Reference this The jurisdiction asserted in the former case has not developed. He graduated with an accounting degree from NTU. The contract was held to be void because there was no consensus on the terms. 117 It should be emphasised that this stream of authority is consistently recognised by all the major common law jurisdictions. They are not entitled to the costs of the subsequent brief hearing, for reasons I now deal with summarily. I must add that these were far from being ordinary printers for home use. Unfortunately, they mistakenly offered the price at so much per pound in place of so much per piece. No modern authority was cited to me suggesting an intended commercial transaction of this nature could ever fail for want of consideration. In the Singapore context a similar approach has been adopted by the Court of Appeal in Aircharter World Pte Ltd v Kontena Nasional Bhd [1999] 3 SLR 1 at [30] and [31], and Projection Pte Ltd v The Tai Ping Insurance Co Ltd [2001] 2 SLR 399 at [15]. 11 The single most controversial issue in these proceedings is the knowledge possessed and/or belief entertained by each of the plaintiffs when they entered into each of the transactions for the purchase of the laser printers.

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