This contention is wholly untenable. The most recent and authoritative pronouncement in this area (. This is one of the first prominent case that deals with the issue of web based contract. In the final stage of the process, after the payment mode was indicated, each of the plaintiffs was notified successful transaction your order and payment transaction has been processed. In a, WHILE surfing the Net at about 2am on Monday, MrTan Wei Teck stumbled upon an offer, 82 The plaintiffs strenuously opposed the defendants amendments principally on the ground it was made at a late juncture. In-house law team, Chwee Kin Keong v Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd [2005] 1 SLR(R) 502, Contract unilateral mistake Internet Contract Consensus ad Idem Meeting of the Minds Acceptance Offer Void Error. Whether the parties have reached agreement on the terms is not determined by evidence of the subjective intention of each party. 49 Tan Cheng Pengs brief evidence did not really assist the third plaintiff. 118 The Canadian courts have been the most active common law courts explicating and developing this area of the law. Examples of such mistakes would include (a)human error (b)programming of software errors and (c)transmission problems in the communication systems. This judgment text has undergone conversion so that it is mobile and web-friendly. We are only concerned with the question whether relief might be given for common mistake in circumstances wider than those stipulated in Bell v Lever Bros Ltd [1932] AC 161. The case of Chwee Kin Keong & Ors v Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd [2004] SGHC 71, and the decision by VK Rajah JC, has received much public attention. 101 The applicable rules in relation to transactions over the worldwide web appear to be clearer and less controversial. Desmond: 13/01/20 01:40 if any friend got extra printer u want? 38 The second plaintiff came across as intelligent and resourceful. Scorpio: 13/01/20 01:43 yeah man whats the original price? 30 Tan Wei Teck is 30 years old. 60 Prior to placing his order, he was again contacted by the second plaintiff. The fourth plaintiffs single transaction with the Digilandmall website was confirmed by a similar automated response stating Successful Purchase Confirmation from Digilandmall. (c) the need to reach commercially sensible solutions while respecting traditional principles applicable to instances of genuine error or mistake. Homestead Assets Sdn Bhd v. Contramec . 149 It is clear from the authorities reviewed that such a contract, if entered into by a party with actual or presumed knowledge of an error, is void from the outset. There is no merit at all in this contention. In addition, each of the confirmatory e-mail responses states at the outset: [W]e will be calling you in the near future to deliver the products to the address shown below. [emphasis added]. In effect the Internet conveniently integrates into a single screen traditional advertising, catalogues, shop displays/windows and physical shopping. They are all well-educated professionals articulate, entrepreneurial and, quite bluntly, streetwise and savvy individuals. The neutral citation of the case Chwee Kin Keong and others v Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd is as follows: This citation tells us that this was the 71st case in 2004 decided in the Singapore High Court. Upon accessing the Digilandmall website and confirming that the printer was offered there at $66 as well, he placed a further order for 25 laser printers through that website at about 3.29am. Interestingly, Desmond also remarked to the first plaintiff that he wasnt greedy before I tok to u. Soon after, the second, third and fifth plaintiffs took their claims to the media. In Canada, the latter suffices. The phrase call to enquire, it is contended, was in effect a condition precedent. The contract was held to be void because there was no consensus on the terms. Thus the task of ascertaining whether the parties have reached agreement as to the terms of a contract can involve quite a complex amalgam of the objective and the subjective and involve the application of a principle that bears close comparison with the doctrine of estoppel. After receiving the e-mail from the first plaintiff, he visited the relevant HP website pages. The defendant is therefore entitled to recover in full its taxed costs from the plaintiffs. Upon completing this sequence, each of the orders placed by the plaintiffs was confirmed by automated responses from the respective websites stating Successful Purchase Confirmation from HP online. The first plaintiffs callname in this exchange is Scorpio. There can be no other reasonable explanation. Pages 74 Ratings 100% (5) 5 out of 5 people found this document helpful; One reason for this is the eternal tension faced by courts and judges alike in seeking a just equilibrium between commercial certainty and justice in a particular case. In summary therefore, the equitable jurisdiction of the Courts to relieve against mistake in contract comprehends situations where one party, who knows or ought to know of anothers mistake in a fundamental term, remains silent and snaps at the offer, seeking to take advantage of the others mistake. On the issue of his actual knowledge and communications with the other plaintiffs at the material time, I found his evidence unsatisfactory. High Court Suit No 202 of 2003. But it is difficult to see how that can apply here. They want Digiland to honour the deal or at least to compensate them. He appears to have been in constant communication with the second plaintiff and to have received and read the mass e-mail from the first plaintiff after he placed his first purchase order. Rules and case law pertaining to amendments are premised upon achieving even-handedness in the context of an adversarial system by: (a) ensuring that the parties apprise each other and the court of the essential facts that they intend to rely on in addressing the issues in controversy or dispute; (b) requiring that an amendment should be attended to in the usual course of events, at an early stage of the proceedings, to ensure that no surprise or prejudice is inflicted on or caused to opposing parties; (c) requiring careful consideration whether any amendments sought at a late stage of the proceedings will cause any prejudice to the opposing party. 117 It should be emphasised that this stream of authority is consistently recognised by all the major common law jurisdictions. 85 Having stated the general rule, it is imperative that the rationale underlying this approach be understood. 2 [2004] 2 SLR 594 ("the Digilandmall case") (The decision was very recently affirmed by the Singapore Court of Appeal in Chwee Kin Keong v Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd [2005] SGCA 2, albeit on somewhat different grounds and where the focus was on the law of unilateral mistake rather than formation of contract.)]. Two issues had arisen. This was not noticed by the company until over 4,000 printers were ordered. He is currently self-employed and is intimately involved in the multi-level marketing sales of aromatherapy products under the Bel-Air label. They have taken into account both the English and Australian authorities in distilling the jurisprudence in this area. Limit orders: order to be executed only when the desired price is available. Mutual promises, by all accounts, on the basis of existing case law, more than amply constitute consideration. Chwee Kin Keong and Others v Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd [2004] 2 SLR 594; [2004] SGHC 71 Suit No: Suit 202/2003/E Decision Date: 12 Apr 2004 Court: High Court Coram: V K Rajah JC Counsel: Tan Sok Ling, Malcolm Tan and Mohan Das Vijayaratnam (Tan S L and Partners) for plaintiffs, Philip Fong Yeng Fatt and Doris Chia Ming Lai (Harry Elias 108 Chitty on Contracts (28th Ed, 1999) vol1 observes at para5-035: It is not clear whether for the mistake to be operative it must actually be known to the other party, or whether it is enough that it ought to have been apparent to any reasonable man. Palm tree justice will only serve to inject uncertainty into the law. The case of Hartog v Colin & Shields [1939] 3All ER 566 is incontrovertibly the leading authority in this area. This could account for the substantial number of Canadian cases in this area of the law. 42 Mark Yeow Kinn Keong has a Bachelor of Science (Economics) degree from the University of London. V K Rajah JC. 33 See the Singapore Court of Appeal decision of Chwee Kin Keong v Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd[2005] 1 SLR 502 (noted by Yeo, TM ' Great Peace: a distant disturbance ' (2005) 121 Law Quarterly Review 393 Google Scholar; KFK Low 'Unilateral mistake at common law and in equity' [2005] Lloyd's Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly 423; and PW . 36 The second plaintiff was the key person and pivotal in the entire chain of events. In Great Peace Shipping Ltd v Tsavliris Salvage (International) Ltd, the English Court of Appeal decided that Solle v Butcher was wrong to hold that there was an equitable doctrine of common mistakes. He claims visiting, inter alia, the Epinions and Hardwarezone websites, and though it appears that there was at the material time a discussion thread on the error on the Hardwarezone website, the fourth plaintiff denied having seen this. 111 This approach appears to have been endorsed by Judith PrakashJ in Ho Seng Lee Construction Pte Ltd v Nian Chuan Construction Pte Ltd [2001] 4 SLR 407 at [84] where it was also accepted that: The test is an objective one based on what a reasonable person would have known in similar circumstances. The plaintiffs could not coherently explain why neither they nor their lawyers had not attempted to correct the press reports at the material juncture. At 4.15am, he sent an email to the first plaintiff, copied to the second plaintiff, with a happy emoticon following check out the prices here (see [19] supra). No cash had been collected. 93 Website advertisement is in principle no different from a billboard outside a shop or an advertisement in a newspaper or periodical. Certainty in commercial transactions should not be trifled with, as this will inevitably affect how commercial and business exchanges are respected and effected. In turn, the ICQ chat session involving the first plaintiff and the respective plaintiffs exchange of e-mails played a significant role in undermining their credibility and claims. 30th Sep 2021 Delivery was merely a timing issue. The fact that it may have been negligent is not a relevant factor in these proceedings. No cash had been collected. For example, in the Singapore High Court decision of Chwee Kin Keong v Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd [2004] 2 SLR 594 ("Digilandmall"), affirmed on appeal in Chwee Kin Keong v Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd [2005] 1 SLR 502 without considering this particular issue, V K Rajah JC (as he then was) observed, as follows (at [139]): 109 This cautious statement by Chitty needs to be carefully reconsidered in the context of recent developments in this area of law. - This is also the position as regards friends: see Coward v. MIB (1963). Section11 of the ETA expressly provides that offers and acceptances may be made electronically. The initial order for 30 laser printers was placed at round 3.45am while the second order for 300 units was placed at around 3.53am. It was found that the plaintiffs must have known or realised that the offer did not express the true intention of the defendants. 19 Later in the morning, at about 4.15am, the fourth plaintiff sent the following e-mail to the first plaintiff, copied to the second plaintiff only: Subject: Re: IMPT HP Colour LaserJet going at only $66!! 98 Once an offer is sent over the Internet, the sender loses control over the route and delivery time of the message. 327. [emphasis added]. The following excerpts are particularly relevant: Desmond: 13/01/20 01:17 go hp online now. It takes the view that there is no jurisdiction in equity to rescind a contract that is valid at common law, on the basis of mistake. Is this a case of poetic justice? The e-mail was given a high importance priority and captioned go load it now!!. Errors may incur wholly unexpected, and sometimes untoward, consequences as these proceedings so amply demonstrate. The quintessential approach of the law is to, 106 In the Singapore context, the first port of call when confronted with issues of contract law is inevitably Professor Andrew Phangs treatise on.
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