Abstract
MWB v Rock Advertising has given the Supreme Court the opportunity to revisit the ever-topical question of abolishing consideration. This paper traces the history of consideration from the 1500s and develops a new framework for understanding the doctrine and the different roles it plays in our contract law, utilizing the distinct ideas of the concept, theory and rules of consideration. Ultimately, it aims to show how the Supreme Court could interpret the various strands of case-law to avoid the distinction between increasing pacts and decreasing pacts altogether.
This paper calls for a reconsideration of the doctrine in so far as it suggests making the three aspects of consideration coherent vis-à-vis one another, firstly by making sense of the theory of consideration within our modern legal framework, and secondly by abolishing any rules that undermine either the theory or the concept of consideration. In light of MWB v Rock Advertising therefore, this paper serves as a call to the Supreme Court to radically reinterpret consideration and pave the path for the evolution of English contractual principles.
Khan, Azfer A, Abolishing Consideration: An Argument from Coherence (October 27, 2017).
First posted 2017-10-30 08:52:43
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