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122 Eng. Rep. 309
Tags: Contracts, Impossibility
tl;dr:
The plaintiff rented out the defendant’s music venue for a concert series, but the venue burned down before the first concert. Both parties were excused from their obligations under the contract.Case Summary
In Taylor v. Caldwell (1863), England's highest common law court addressed a dispute over a contract to rent a music hall. The plaintiffs argued that the defendants breached the contract when the hall burned down before the agreed-upon dates, causing the plaintiffs to lose expected profits from concerts. The defendants claimed they should be excused due to the unexpected event that made performing the contract impossible.
The central question was whether the fire relieved both parties of their contractual responsibilities or if the defendants were still responsible for damages. The court decided that the fire discharged both parties from the contract and found the defendants not liable for damages. The court reasoned that there was an implied condition in the contract that the hall must exist to fulfill the contract, and that the contract was contingent on certain circumstances remaining unchanged.
This case is significant because it established the doctrine of common law impossibility, or frustration, in contract law. This principle allows a party to be released from a contract if an unexpected event makes performance impossible or drastically different from what was agreed upon. The case also highlights that courts may imply terms into contracts based on parties' intentions and expectations and will consider fairness and justice when enforcing contracts in unforeseen situations.
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