The Satanita

The Satanita
Valkyrie II, the victim of The Satanita
Court House of Lords
Full case name Clarke v Earl of Dunraven
Citation(s) [1897] AC 59
Case history
Prior action(s) [1895] P 248
Keywords
Offer and acceptance, rules of game

The Satanita [1897] AC 59 is an English contract law case, decided in the Court of Appeal, which concerned the formation of a contract. It is notable because it stands as an example of a case which does not fit the typical pattern of offer and acceptance that English law purports to require to find agreement.

Facts

Lord Dunraven, owner of the Valkyrie II, and Clarke, owner of The Satanita, each entered their yachts in a race in the Firth of Clyde organised by the Mudhook Yacht Club. Each agreed to the rules, one of which was that rule breakers were liable for all consequential damage, displacing the statutory position that a defendant’s liability is limited. On 5 April 1894, The Satanita collided with Lord Dunraven’s yacht, killing a crewmember and causing it to sink.

Judgment

The Court of Appeal held that there was a contract for the owner of The Satanita to pay Lord Dunraven compensation. Lord Esher MR held that a contract had been formed, since "one of the conditions is, that if you do sail for one of such prizes you must enter into an obligation with the owners of the yachts who are competing, which they at the same time enter into similarly with you… If that is so, then when they do sail, and not till then, that relation is immediately formed between the yacht owners". Lopes LJ agreed that there was a contract.

Rigby LJ said that,

House of Lords

Without analysing the issue of whether there was a contract, the House of Lords upheld the Court of Appeal's decision.[1]

See also

References

  1. [1897] AC 59
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.