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Welch v Jess [1976] NZ recent Law 185 is a reported precedent case in New Zealand on intention to create legal relations in the law of contract.
Welch v Jess | |
---|---|
Court | District Court of New Zealand |
Full case name | Welch v Jess |
Citation | [1976] NZ Recent Law 185 |
It adopts into NZ case law the English cases of Simpkins v Pays [1] and Connell v MIB.
Jess and his friend Welch entered a fishing contest on Ninety Mile Beach. They agreed to pool money for a kitty, agreeing to share any prize money later won. Jess subsequently won $6,000 but later refused to share the prize money, claiming that it was merely a social agreement not intended to be enforced the parties.
For an agreement to become a contract, there must be intention to create legal relations.[3] Two judicial devices aid a court to decide whether there is intent:
The objective test was established in Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball Co, where it was held that any reasonable man who read an advertisement that said the advertiser had "deposited £1000 in the Alliance Bank to show our sincerity in the matter" would deem that there was intention to create legally relations (even though, subjectively, the advertiser was a rogue who had no intention of honouring the agreement).
The rebuttable presumption varies according to the type of transaction.
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