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. Scorpio: 13/01/20 01:17 what hp online?? A party may not snap at an obviously mistaken offer: McMaster. In such cases, it would be unconscionable to enforce the bargain and equity will set aside the contract, 26 I respectfully agree with the reasoning of ShawJ in. Case Note: Singapore | Digital Evidence and Electronic Signature Law Review 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. Olley v Marlborough Court [1949] 1 KB 532 Omnium D'Enterprises v . The court has to be astute and adopt a pragmatic and judicious stance in resolving such issues. 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. There is often, but not inexorably, a co-relationship between the timing when the amendment is sought and the adverse consequences for the other party. 13 The first plaintiff, Chwee Kin Keong, is 29 years old. This is in contrast to the English position where after several decades, 125 The principal source of this view has been Lord DenningMR. Thus the task of ascertaining whether the parties have reached agreement as to the terms of a contract can involve quite a complex amalgam of the objective and the subjective and involve the application of a principle that bears close comparison with the doctrine of estoppel. Case Summary Rajah J.C. in the Singapore High Court in Chwee Kin Keong v. Digilandmall.com Pte. The terms of the offer are clear and unambiguous and the offeree accepts the offer according to its true sense, but it must have been obvious (and known by the offeree) that the offeror did not intend to make an offer in those terms. Most telling of all, I note that the first to fifth plaintiffs exhibited identical reports in each of their affidavits without any qualification whatsoever. 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. Doctrine and fairness in the law of contract - Cambridge Core Pginas: 93: High Court - Suit n 202 of 2003. Transactions over websites are almost invariably instantaneous and/or interactive. He received this information through an sms message. I would not however invariably equate the required conduct with fraud. See now, also, The defendants argued this pricing was a unilateral mistake and that the complainants took advantage of this. Contract doctrine is substantially predicated upon achieving an ethical equilibrium between the individualistic ethic and community ethic in order to protect reasonable or legitimate expectations. It appears that it wanted to leave no stone unturned and had therefore mounted a root and branch attack on the plaintiffs claims. He also participates in multi-level marketing of Bel-Air aromatherapy products. Basic principles of contract law continue to prevail in contracts made on the Internet. Offer and acceptance - The analysis is structured around the Although a mistaken party will not often be able to discharge the onus of showing that the other party knew or must have known that he or she intended terms different from the terms of the offer or acceptance, it is not a necessary element that the party seeking to enforce the contract has actively contributed to the others mistake. Alarm bells would have sounded immediately. Normally, however, the task involves no more than an objective analysis of the words used by the parties. Prejudice is to be viewed broadly to encompass any injustice and embraces both procedural and substantive notions; (d) recognising that while a costs award against the party seeking late amendments can frequently alleviate any inconvenience caused, this may not always be appropriate; (e) taking into account policy considerations that require finality in proceedings and proper time management of the courts resources and scheduling. These orders were placed at a price of S$66 each, whereas the actual price was S$3,854 each. Voces del tesauro. In the final stage of the process, after the payment mode was indicated, each of the plaintiffs was notified successful transaction your order and payment transaction has been processed. This case is a paradigm example of an error on the human side. Often the essence of good business is the use of superior knowledge. Homestead Assets Sdn Bhd v. Contramec . Quoine was operating as a market-maker on their own platform. Despite the general views expressed in. 66 The fifth plaintiff also gave evidence that the next morning, when he logged on his computer, he noted that a Hong Kong lawyer friend, Coral Toh, was also logged onto her computer. Central London Property Trust Ltd v High Trees House Ltd [1947] KB 130 Chapelton v Barry UDC [1940] 1 KB 532 Chaplin v Hicks [1911] 2 KB 786 Chappell v Nestl [1960] AC 87 Chwee Kin Keong v Digilandmall.com [2006] 1 LRC 37 CIBC Mortgages v Pitt [1994] 1 AC 200 - Undue . On any objective construction, the presumed intention must be that in the context of its confirmatory content, the words call to enquire in the availability portion of the contract related to the timing of the delivery rather than being subject to physical availability of the laser printer or stock. 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. In the light of that consideration we can see no way that Solle v Butcher can stand with Bell v Lever Bros Ltd. I invited both parties to indicate if they wished to amend their pleadings. 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. It can however be observed that in mass mistake cases, even when there is no direct evidence as in these proceedings, the court could be prepared to pragmatically assume actual or deemed knowledge of the manifest mistake. He claimed he wanted to find out how much profit he could make. Loose language may result in inadvertently establishing contractual liability to a much wider range of purchasers than resources permit. This is in contrast to the English position where after several decades Hartog v Colin & Shields still remains the locus classicus. They are all well-educated professionals articulate, entrepreneurial and, quite bluntly, streetwise and savvy individuals. 55 The fourth plaintiff is technologically savvy and runs an Internet business with the second plaintiff. The plaintiffs are, however, entitled to the cost of the amendments, in any event, which I fix at $1,000. 106 In the Singapore context, the first port of call when confronted with issues of contract law is inevitably Professor Andrew Phangs treatise on Cheshire, Fifoot and Furmstons Law of Contract (2nd Singapore and Malaysian Ed, 1998). In such cases, it would be unconscionable to enforce the bargain and equity will set aside the contract. 40 When the fourth plaintiff responded to the first plaintiffs mass e-mail, he copied his response to the second plaintiff. FEATURE - Law Gazette Altogether different considerations may arise if a party, at a late stage, seeks through an amendment to adduce further evidence to support that same amendment. He has incorporated an Internet business Dreamcupid in which the second plaintiff has an interest. 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. Indeed he had conduct of significant phases of these proceedings on behalf of the plaintiffs. 155 The Internet has revolutionised commerce and radically altered the manner in which commercial interaction currently takes place. When pressed as to whether he visited other websites, he said he could not confirm that one way or the other. The plaintiffs attempted to take advantage of the defendants mistake over the Internet. 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. He graduated with an accounting degree from NTU. The financial consequences could be considerable. He said that he wanted to be sure that the offer on the HP website was genuine. At 4.15am, he sent an email to the first plaintiff, copied to the second plaintiff, with a happy emoticon following check out the prices here (see [19] supra). The leading Canadian decision in this area is the case of, 120 The widening of jurisdiction to embrace a broad equitable jurisdiction could well encourage litigious behaviour and promote uncertainty. 74 Under product description on each webpage, instead of the actual description of the laser printer which in this case should have been HP9660A Color LaserJet 4600, only the numerals 55 appeared: this was the result of Samuel Teos earlier inadvertent input. The essential point remains: will prejudice be caused and/or are any policy considerations called into play. He is also part of the Bel-Air network. 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. Their v . The first, second and third plaintiffs have been friends for a long time and are bound by common business interests. 34 He also visited the Digilandmall website to familiarise himself with their standard terms and conditions. This is an inane argument. 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. Furthermore, unlike a fax or a telephone call, it is not instantaneous. From time to time they communicate with each other, 4 The defendant is a company that sells information technology (IT) related products over the Internet to consumers. He claims visiting, inter alia, the Epinions and Hardwarezone websites, and though it appears that there was at the material time a discussion thread on the error on the Hardwarezone website, the fourth plaintiff denied having seen this. [2006] SGHC 222 - eLitigation Examples of such mistakes would include (a)human error (b)programming of software errors and (c)transmission problems in the communication systems. It was found that the plaintiffs must have known or realised that the offer did not express the true intention of the defendants. After placing his second order, he admitted making further searches on the Internet to fortify my view that the price of the $66 per printer was not a mistake He was also the only plaintiff who placed an order on the Digilandmall website. 85 Having stated the general rule, it is imperative that the rationale underlying this approach be understood. chwee kin keong v digilandmall high court The e-mail was given a high importance priority and captioned go load it now!!. 38 The second plaintiff came across as intelligent and resourceful. 54 The fourth plaintiff admits that he had entertained the idea at the material time that the price posting could have been an error. He admitted in cross-examination to being the lawyer for this group of people when they had questions like these in the present proceedings. It appears that in Convention transactions, the receipt rule applies unless there is a contrary intention. Carlill V Carbolic Smoke Ball Case - 1840 Words | Bartleby They are all well-educated professionals articulate, entrepreneurial and, quite bluntly, streetwise and savvy individuals. 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. The fourth plaintiffs single transaction with the Digilandmall website was confirmed by a similar automated response stating Successful Purchase Confirmation from Digilandmall. The other school of thought views the approach outlined earlier with considerable scepticism. Administrative Law in Common Law Countries. Chwee Kin Keong v Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd. Case Nos: Suit 202/2003/E (for the first instance), CA/30/2004 (for the appeal) in the High Court of Singapore (at first instance), Singapore Court of Appeal. Leave was also given to the plaintiffs to adduce further evidence, if they so desired. 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 essence of snapping up lies in taking advantage of a known or perceived error in circumstances which ineluctably suggest knowledge of the error. After placing his second order, he admitted making further searches on the Internet to fortify my view that the price of the $66 per printer was not a mistake He was also the only plaintiff who placed an order on the Digilandmall website. At 4.16am he placed another order for one laser printer, by credit card, on the HP website. In such cases, where the purchaser has readily accessible means from the very same computer screen, to ascertain through a simple search whether a mistake has taken place, the onus could be upon him to exonerate himself of imputed knowledge of the mistake. To that extent, his evidence that he subsequently dismissed the notion altogether is unacceptable. Given its global reach and ever changing technological advancements, Internet usage will pose a myriad of issues for resolution. 33 After his first order, the second plaintiff contacted the fourth and fifth plaintiffs informing them about the laser printers. It was the defendants computer system. 101 RSS Intellectual Property Office of Singapore Expand/Collapse. 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. Unilateral mistake in contracts - L'Avocat Law The plaintiffs orders were processed by the defendants automated system and confirmation notes were automatically despatched to the plaintiffs within a few minutes. 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 . Lord Phillips of Worth MatraversMR observed in a withering analysis at [156], [157], [160] and [161]: Thus the premise of the equitys intrusion into the effects of the common law is that the common law rule in question is seen in the particular case to work injustice, and for some reason the common law cannot cure itself. He is currently self-employed and is intimately involved in the multi-level marketing sales of aromatherapy products under the Bel-Air label. 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.
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