W.J. Alan & Co. v El Nasr Export & Import Co., [1972] 2 QB 189, [1972] 2 All ER 127
Citation:W.J. Alan & Co. v El Nasr Export & Import Co., [1972] 2 QB 189, [1972] 2 All ER 127
Rule of thumb:What happens if terms in contracts are breached & no objection is made regarding this? The contract terms become void – with contract terms it is use them or lose them.
Judgment:
–, ’The principle of waiver is simply this: if one party, by his conduct, leads another to believe that the strict rights arising under the contract will not be insisted on, intending that the other should act on that belief, and he does act on it, then the first party will not afterwards be allowed to insist on the strict legal rights when it would be inequitable for him to do so..." Lord Denning MR, (This dictum was also reaffirmed with an extremely similar dictum in another very high profile House of Lords case, Armia Ltd v Daejan Developments Ltd 1979 SC (HL) 56, emphasising that is a clear point of contract law that people can expect to rely on – the Court firmly deem this type of behaviour under a contract to be a breach of contract law, ‘The word ‘waiver’ connotes the abandonment of a right. (See: Banning v Wright [1972] 1 WLR 972 per Lord Hailsham of St Marylebone LC at p. 979, Lord Reid at p. 981). The abandonment may be express, or it may be inferred from the facts and circumstances of the case . . I conclude from these cases that the question whether or not there has been a waiver of a right is a question of fact, to be determined objectively upon a consideration of all the relevant evidence.’ Lord Keith of Kinkel at 72
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