Part of the Contract Law Library, the third edition of Duress, Undue Influence and Unconscionable Dealing provides a detailed account of the law relating to these areas. Duress, undue, influence and unconscionable dealing are grounds on which a contract could be avoided by one of the parties because his/her consent was obtained by conduct which the law considers unacceptable.
Duress deals with circumstances where the complainant’s consent was obtained by the use of illegitimate pressure, such as a threat of physical violence or economic pressure.
Undue influence deals with cases where one person has acquired influence over another and that influence is exercised in an improper manner to procure the consent of the other person to enter into a contract.
The related, but distinct, doctrine of abuse of confidence applies where a fiduciary enters into a contract with his/her principal. The concern here is not whether the transaction was procured by the exercise of illegitimate or improper pressure; it is that the fiduciary might have abused the confidence in him or her by acting to their own advantage at the expense of their principal’s interests.
Unconscionable dealing is concerned with cases where at the time of concluding a contract one party (the weaker party) was under some special disability, such as poverty, ignorance, illness, necessity, intoxication, and the other party took unconscientious advantage of the circumstances of the weaker party. The stronger party may be guilty of unconscionable dealing even though he has not exercised any form of pressure on the weaker party.
The first supplement to the third edition includes fresh commentary and cases covering each chapter of the main work updating the Third Edition to 30 September 2020.
Duress, undue influence and unconscionable dealing are grounds on which a contract may be avoided by one of the parties because their consent was obtained by conduct which the law considers unacceptable.
This new supplement includes fresh commentary and cases covering each chapter of the main work, updating the 3rd Edition to 30 September 2020.