Question

88. What are the four ways that a contract can be discharged?

89. What is the legal principle in Cutter v Powell (1795)?

90. What are the three broad categories of situations in which a contract will become frustrated?

Answer 1

88) There are four ways in which a contract can be discharged.

1. Performance: When a contract is deemed to be discharged by performance what it means is that the parties to the contract have fulfilled their legal obligation and there is no further need to continue the contract.
2. Agreement: It is a common feature in employment contract where the parties might agree before hand that if the employee wants to resign, he/she must give a period of notice and vice versa for the employer as well.
3. Repudiation: This is where one party deliberately breach the agreement.
4. Frustration: This means that one or both parties cannot fulfill their contractual obligation owing to some unforeseen event that prevents them from continuing with the contractual relationship.

89) The court stipulated that, where parties conclude an express contract, no terms can be implied into the contract. On the facts, the contract between the parties expressly provided that the payment was conditional upon the completion of the voyage and only payable after the ship's arrival.