Esso Petroleum Co Ltd v Comrs of Customs and Excise

Esso Petroleum Co Ltd v Commissioners of Customs and Excise [1975] UKHL 4 is an English contract law case, concerning the rule of creation of legal relations in English law.

Esso Ltd v Customs and Excise
Court	House of Lords
Full case name	Esso Petroleum Company Limited (Respondents) v. Commissioners of Customs and Excise (Appellants)
Decided	10 December 1975 (1975-12-10)
Citations	[1975] UKHL 4, [1976] 1 WLR 1
Case history
Prior action	[1975] 1 WLR 406
Court membership
Judges sitting	Lord Wilberforce, Viscount Dilhorne, Lord Simon, Lord Fraser, Lord Russell
Case opinions
Lord Dilhorne, Lord Simon, Lord Fraser, Lord Russell
Keywords
Intention to create legal relations

Facts

Esso offered a World Cup coin with likenesses of the England 1970 squad players, given to every motorist buying over four gallons of petrol. HM Customs & Excise argued these coins should have purchase tax charged on them because they were ‘produced in quantity for general sale.’

Judgment

Court of Appeal

Lord Denning MR said it was amazing that this case had got so far. He said the coins were not 'sold'.

House of Lords

The House of Lords (Lord Fraser dissenting) agreed with the Court of Appeal that the petrol, not the coins, was being sold. But, then, on the question of whether the coins were being given under a contractual obligation, or as a mere gift, Lord Simon of Glaisdale, Lord Wilberforce and Lord Fraser agreed there was intention to create legal relations, given the heavy onus of proof to show a bargain was not intended. Lord Russell and Viscount Dilhorne dissented on this point, saying that the language in the poster advertisements that the coins were 'going free' and the minimal value of the coins indicated no intention to create legal relations.

See also

• English contract law

Notes

References

• From the English law report the case is similar to Tanzania case from HCD Marwa vs Malanganila HCD (2019) where by Malanganila won the case against the republic