Contract

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1961

Principle established: An indefinite contract of service is terminable only upon reasonable notice, and wrongful summary dismissal entitles the employee to salary arrears and remuneration in lieu of reasonable notice.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1931

Principle established: An agreement between a solicitor and client for a percentage of litigation proceeds is champertous and illegal, and an appellate court will take notice of such illegality even if unpleaded.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1920-36

Principle established: An agreement whereby a solicitor takes a percentage of litigation proceeds is champertous and illegal, and an appellate court will take notice of such illegality even if not pleaded below.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1920-36

Principle established: If an agent borrows money without authority but uses it to discharge the principal's legal liabilities, the lender is entitled in equity to stand in the position of a creditor for repayment.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1972-73

Principle established: A landlord's acceptance of rent with knowledge of a breach of covenant constitutes a waiver of the breach, regardless of whether waiver was intended.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1973

Principle established: A landlord's or authorized agent's acceptance of accrued rent with knowledge of a tenant's breach constitutes a waiver of that breach, irrespective of whether waiver was actually intended.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1923

Principle established: A person cannot enforce a contract unless there is privity between the parties, and a judicial consent order does not create contractual rights for non-parties.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1964-66

Principle established: A principal cannot maintain an action against an agent to recover collected rents without positive evidence of the specific rents payable and their receipt by the agent.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1964

Principle established: A principal cannot recover rents from an agent without positive evidence establishing the precise amounts payable and actually received by the agent.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1920-36

Principle established: Goods supplied to an infant for trading are not necessaries, and infancy is an absolute bar to an action even if the contract was induced by fraudulent misrepresentation of age.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1962

Principle established: An implied condition of fitness for purpose arises when a buyer relies on the seller's judgment, and exclusion terms cannot protect the seller unless properly brought to the buyer's attention.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1962

Principle established: Where a buyer makes known the purpose of goods and relies on the seller's skill, an implied condition of fitness applies unless exclusionary clauses are brought to the buyer's notice.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1920-36

Principle established: English Summary Jurisdiction Acts are purely municipal enactments confined to England and Wales and are not statutes of general application in force in Sierra Leone.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1972

Principle established: The presumption that an indefinite hiring is a yearly contract can be rebutted by contrary intention such as a contractual termination notice clause, and notice may run during paid leave.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1950

Principle established: An agent who contracts in his own name is personally liable on the contract even if the existence of the principal was disclosed.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1950-56

Principle established: An agent who enters into a contract in his own name is personally liable on that contract even if the existence of his principal was disclosed.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1972-73

Principle established: In a negligence claim against a manufacturer, the burden of proof is not discharged if the evidence shows the injury was equally consistent with causes other than the defendant's negligence.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1974

Principle established: A contract requires a concluded bargain embodying all essential terms, and failure to complete construction within the agreed period constitutes an actionable breach of contract.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1950-56

Principle established: A sea carrier's liability for carriage of goods terminates upon proper unloading and delivery onto the quay in accordance with port custom.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1954

Principle established: A carrier's responsibility for goods ends upon valid delivery according to the custom of the port of discharge, after which it holds the goods merely as an agent.

United Kingdom · 1892

Principle established: An advertisement offering a reward for performing a specific act constitutes a unilateral offer to the world, which becomes a binding contract upon performance of the conditions.

United Kingdom · 1946

Principle established: A promise intended to be binding and acted upon is enforceable even without consideration, preventing the promisor from acting inconsistently with that promise.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2015

Principle established: Termination of a fixed-term employment contract during a probationary period must be conducted in accordance with the terms of the offer letter and the employer's human resources manual.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2012

Principle established: Disputes arising from international contracts for the supply of telecommunications equipment and subsequent equity transactions are subject to judicial review on appeal.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1967

Principle established: A party leading another to believe strict contractual terms will not be enforced cannot later insist upon those rights when inequitable, and a tenant holding over under an invitation to renew is not wrongful.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1967-68

Principle established: A party who induces another to believe strict contractual rights will not be enforced cannot resile from that position when it would be inequitable, amounting to a waiver.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1920-36

Principle established: Excessive interest in a money-lending transaction justifies statutory intervention unless the lender proves the transaction is not harsh and unconscionable.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1920-36

Principle established: A surety is immediately liable upon the principal debtor's default without requiring prior notice, previous action against the principal, or simultaneous action against co-sureties.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2019

Principle established: The court considered whether a defendant was personally liable for a contract or if the transaction was entered into by a corporate entity, emphasizing the distinction between personal and corporate liability.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2017

Principle established: A defendant may be refused leave to defend and summary judgment granted to the plaintiff where there is no triable issue regarding the recovery of sums due under a contract.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 1960

Principle established: Damages for breach of contract are assessed by subtracting the labour costs saved from the unpaid contract price, and related tort claims may be joined to avoid multiplicity of actions.

Sierra Leone — Court of Appeal · 2013

Principle established: A contract for the purchase of a vehicle, though not in writing, may be evidenced by a proforma invoice and subsequent part payment.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1963

Principle established: A motion for specific performance intended to be enforced by attachment must be personally served on the parties, and service on a solicitor who is not solicitor of record is improper.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1963

Principle established: A motion seeking compliance intended to be enforced through attachment must be personally served on the respondents, not upon an unrecorded solicitor.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1961

Principle established: Where professional services are rendered without an agreed price, the provider is entitled to reasonable remuneration calculated on the total value of the properties evaluated.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1963

Principle established: An insurer must indemnify an insured where a driver was operating the vehicle with the owner's permission and for a permitted domestic purpose under the policy.

Sierra Leone — Supreme Court · 1963

Principle established: An motor vehicle insurance policy covering domestic purposes indemnifies the owner when another person drives the vehicle with permission for such purposes.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1957-60

Principle established: A court will not assist a claimant whose cause of action arises from an agreement designed to execute a transaction prohibited by mineral regulatory statutes.

United Kingdom · 1854

Principle established: Damages for breach of contract are limited to losses that arise naturally from the breach or that were within the reasonable contemplation of both parties at the time of contracting.

Sierra Leone — African Law Reports · 1950-56

Principle established: An agent contracting for a foreign principal is presumed to incur personal liability unless privity is established between the foreign principal and the third party or a contrary intention appears.