chwee kin keong v digilandmall high courthow did lafayette help the patriot cause?

His evidence pertaining to the material points of knowledge and his communications with the other plaintiffs lacked credibility. In my view this further undermines the essence of the plaintiffs case that they never contemplated that the pricing was a mistake. 26 It is clear from the priority status accorded to the e-mail that the first plaintiff was sharing his knowledge of a good deal. Decisions cannot be reconciled and expressions, terminology and phraseology in different decisions mean different things to different courts and even judges within the same judicial systems. 93 Website advertisement is in principle no different from a billboard outside a shop or an advertisement in a newspaper or periodical. Chwee Kin Keong v Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd. Case Nos: Suit 202/2003/E (for the first instance), CA/30/2004 (for the appeal) in the High Court of Singapore (at first instance), Singapore Court of Appeal. Such errors can be magnified almost instantaneously and may be harder to detect than if made in a face to face transaction or through physical document exchanges. 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 There must be consensus ad idem. Following closely to the Singapore High Court in Chwee Kin Keong & Others v Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd [2004] 2 SLR 594 as a precedent with similar context, the court would most likely try to determine if there is an existence of a contract or if an agreement has been reached in the first place, so we refer to Lord Phillips in Shogun Finance Ltd v Such conduct is akin to that of an unscrupulous commercial predator seeking to take advantage of an error by an unsuspecting prey by pouncing upon it before the latter has an opportunity to react or raise a shield of defence. 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. Case law chwee kin keong v digilandmallcom pte ltd. School Nanyang Technological University; Course Title ACC 1301; Uploaded By saint_huimin. There is one important exception to this principle. In such cases, it would be unconscionable to enforce the bargain and equity will set aside the contract, 26 I respectfully agree with the reasoning of ShawJ in. CISG-online is a research platform dedicated to the law and practice of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods adopted in Vienna on 11 April 1980 (CISG), as well as related areas of international commercial law. He also called the first plaintiff to see if the latter had managed to successfully complete his purchase. 55 The fourth plaintiff is technologically savvy and runs an Internet business with the second plaintiff. http://www.epinions.com/HP_Color_LaserJet_4600_Series_Printer_Printers. 63 It is pertinent he too made web searches using the Google search engine. Mistakes that negative consent do not inexorably result in contracts being declared void. They have taken into account both the English and Australian authorities in distilling the jurisprudence in this area. The law of agency and that pertaining to the formation of contracts are expressly recognised in s13(8) of the ETA as continuing to apply to electronic transactions. This view seems to suggest that principles of equity invariably provide an equally strong but more elastic second string to the bow. The web merchant, unless he qualifies his offer appropriately, by making it subject to the availability of stock or some other condition precedent, could be seen as making an offer to sell an infinite supply of goods. By their own admission, they made Internet searches through various search engines to ascertain the profits they could make. 138 Effectively, the defendant was attempting in this contention to assert that it could have its cake and eat it as well. 152 This view has also found support in the Singapore context. There is no merit at all in this contention. This is a case about predatory pack hunting. 84 It is axiomatic that a court will generally be cautious if not reluctant to effect any amendments once the hearing has commenced; even more so once the evidential phase of the proceedings has been completed. The rationale for this is that a court will not sanction a contract where there is no consensus ad idem and furthermore it will not allow, as in the case of unilateral mistake, a non-mistaken party to take advantage of an error which he is or ought to be conscious of. [2005] 1 SLR(R) Chwee Kin Keong v Digilandmall Pte Ltd 521. whether constructive knowledge by a non-mistaken party of the mistake would suffice to vitiate the contract ab initio. Inflexible and mechanical rules lead to injustice. Philip Fong Yeng Fatt and Doris Chia Ming Lai (Harry Elias Partnership) for defendant, Chwee Kin Keong; Tan Wei Teck; Yeow Kinn Keong Mark; Ow Eng Hwee; Tan Chun Chuen Malcolm; Yeow Kinn Oei The modern approach in contract law requires very little to find the existence of consideration. 154 Interestingly, of the 784 persons who placed 1,008 orders for 4,086 laser printers, only these six plaintiffs have attempted to enforce their purported contractual rights. 30th Sep 2021 1.47K subscribers Chwee Kin Keong v Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd [2005] Facts The defendant, Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd, were an online IT company that sold related software and hardware from. One circumstance falling clearly within the equitable jurisdiction of the Court to relieve against mistake is that where one party, knowing of the others mistake as to the terms of an offer, remains silent and concludes a contract on the mistaken terms: It is not necessary to prove actual knowledge on the part of the non-mistaken party in order to ground relief, as, 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. When, however, the cases provoked by these factual situations are analysed, they will be seen to fall, not into three, but only two distinct legal categories. The fifth plaintiff, even if he had not been alerted by the second plaintiff, would have instinctively appreciated the existence of a manifest error without any prompting whatsoever. An e-mail, while bearing some similarity to a postal communication, is in some aspects fundamentally different. In his initial affidavit he admitted wondering whether the price was a mistake after his first order was placed. In New Zealand, the legislature enacted the Contractual Mistake Act 1977. This was not noticed by the company until over 4,000 printers were ordered. 142 The plaintiffs were bound by personal relationships as well as past and present common commercial interests. 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. It may be impractical and unjust to demand that the mistaken party actually prove the knowledge of a substantial number of people who effect numerous purchases. As a lawyer, he appears to have been indispensable in the plaintiffs attempts to hold the defendant to the bargain. [emphasis added]. The financial consequences could be considerable. Who bears the risk of such mistakes? Once again, however, this does not deprive E of his legal remedies; nor does it avail V if he wishes to recover property which he may have transferred under the contract. 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. Normally the contract is only concluded when the acceptance is communicated by the offeree to the offeror. The CISG has currently been adopted by 95 Contracting States world-wide. Failure to do so could also result in calamitous repercussions. Nor could he satisfactorily explain why he initially made the Internet searches to ensure the offer was genuine. This contention is wholly untenable. The ETA is essentially permissive. Amendments after conclusion of submissions. To determine the profit potential, the second plaintiff had to take steps to ascertain the true market price of the laser printer which he did. 134 It is not really in issue that contracts can be effectively concluded over the Internet and that programmed computers sending out automated responses can bind the sender. He placed his first order for 50 units at about 2.58am, and his second order for another 50 units at 3.22am, again through the HP website. While this case needs to be treated with some caution, as it appears to integrate concepts of law and equity, I respectfully agree with the approach in so far as it deals with deemed knowledge. He subsequently sent the web link to the Epinions website to the first and second plaintiffs. Court reference 202 of 2003. From time to time they communicate with each other, 4 The defendant is a company that sells information technology (IT) related products over the Internet to consumers. There cannot be any legitimate expectation of enforcement on the part of the non-mistaken party seeking to take advantage of appearances. He was aware that the laser printers were targeted for business use. The contract stands according to the natural meaning of the words used. The object of the exercise is to determine what each party intended, or must be deemed to have intended. 54 The fourth plaintiff admits that he had entertained the idea at the material time that the price posting could have been an error. 42 Mark Yeow Kinn Keong has a Bachelor of Science (Economics) degree from the University of London. 31 He admitted receiving a call from the first plaintiff at about 2.00am but claimed the first plaintiff merely apprised him of a good deal. Samuel Teo had used all these notional numerals on the training template. (c) the need to reach commercially sensible solutions while respecting traditional principles applicable to instances of genuine error or mistake. The recipient rule is therefore more convenient and relevant in the context of both instantaneous or near instantaneous communications. As the reports contradict portions of their present evidence, they have indirectly tried to cast doubt on the accuracy of the reports in so far as the reports referred to them. 50 Ow Eng Hwee, 29 years old, is another network marketing entrepreneur. 1 In the early hours of the morning of 13January 2003, six friends, the plaintiffs in this case, placed orders over the Internet for 1,606 sophisticated Hewlett Packard commercial laser printers (the laser printer(s)). In a Straits Times report dated 15January 2003 captioned $66 printer error angry customers seek lawyers help, it was reported that the second plaintiff, described as a network marketer had on 13January at about 2.00am stumbled upon a offer he could not believe $66 for a Hewlett Packard laserjet printer that normally sells for $3,854 before GST. In this case, Defendant was selling IT products over internet in Singapore. 120 The widening of jurisdiction to embrace a broad equitable jurisdiction could well encourage litigious behaviour and promote uncertainty. 30 Tan Wei Teck is 30 years old. The first issue dealt with references made by the plaintiffs to certain embargoed material. The very foundations of predictability, certainty and efficacy, underpinning contractual dealings, will be undermined if the law and/or equity expands the scope of the mistake exception with alacrity or uncertainty. This thread helps to rationalise the development of the common law but ought not to be viewed as supporting the existence of a general test of commercial morality tantamount to the test of unconscionability invoked by equity. 98 Once an offer is sent over the Internet, the sender loses control over the route and delivery time of the message. 13 The first plaintiff, Chwee Kin Keong, is 29 years old. 145 If the price of a product is so absurdly low in relation to its known market value, it stands to reason that a reasonable man would harbour a real suspicion that the price may not be correct or that there may be some troubling underlying basis for such a pricing. I am not prepared, after full consideration, to assume that the reporters misquoted the facts. 100 There is however another statute that ought to be taken into consideration in determining the appropriate default rule in e-commerce transactions. Evidence was given that if phone calls were indeed placed, they would from time to time limit the number of sales. Quoine was operating as a market-maker on their own platform. 9 The defendants assertion that Samuel Teo had neither the authority nor the intention to make any alterations to the laser printers price is now accepted by the plaintiffs. The other school of thought views the approach outlined earlier with considerable scepticism. 144 I find, in the alternative, that the plaintiffs, given each of their backgrounds, would in any event, each have separately realised and appreciated, before placing their purchase orders, that a manifest mistake had occurred even if no communications on the error had taken place between them. His counsel contends that the idea the price was a mistake never arose in the second plaintiffs mind; he was preoccupied with thinking about the profit potential of the laser printers. This is clearly a mistake as they could not possible be sold for an amount that in a commercial situation. I must add that these were far from being ordinary printers for home use. Rajah J.C. in the Singapore High Court in Chwee Kin Keong v. Digilandmall.com Pte. To that extent, his evidence that he subsequently dismissed the notion altogether is unacceptable. 91 There is no real conundrum as to whether contractual principles apply to Internet contracts. 13 The first plaintiff, Chwee Kin Keong, is 29 years old. The preface I do not know in no way detracts from this; the e-mail being addressed to a large group of 54 persons, the first plaintiff would simply not have wanted to commit himself by saying I know. , In mutual mistake, the parties misunderstand each other and are at cross-purposes. This provision acknowledges that the essential framework of an electronic contract needs to be considered in the usual manner; in other words, principles of contract formation, consideration, terms and conditions, choice of law and jurisdictional issues need to be examined. In a physical sale, the merchant can immediately turn down an offer to purchase a product that has been advertised; otherwise he may be inundated with offers he cannot justify. Some of the plaintiffs appeared rather coy or ignorant in this regard but I did not find their performance believable. The essence of unilateral mistake is the knowledge or deemed knowledge of a mistake and though fraud may often be present it is not an essential ingredient. Given its global reach and ever changing technological advancements, Internet usage will pose a myriad of issues for resolution. 96 In an Internet sale, a prospective purchaser is not able to view the physical stock available. It was held that the contract between the parties was void. To my mind, the confirmation through the subsequent searches that the actual price of the laser printer was, in fact, US$2,000 would, if anything, have affirmed his belief that an error had occurred. Parties Chwee Kin Keong & Others v. Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd. Decision date 12/04/2004. The fourth plaintiffs single transaction with the Digilandmall website was confirmed by a similar automated response stating Successful Purchase Confirmation from Digilandmall. Ltd. has the makings of a student's classic for several reasons, including: 1. After establishing from the web pages that the price quoted for the laser printer was indeed $66, he proceeded to make searches through search engines like Yahoo and visited the website of Hardware.com. Other Jurisdictions. 70 The third plaintiff proceeded to place orders on behalf of the sixth plaintiff on the HP website. Despite their familial relationship, the legal relationship between the two of them was that of agent and principal. The businessmen saw a great opportunity and grabbed it placing an order for 1,000 printers. Desmond: 13/01/20 01:47 wasnt greedy before I tok to u. Scorpio: 13/01/20 01:47 yeah.. S$1 mio then no need to work liao?? I have carefully considered the issue of costs and have noted that the defendant had, in the process of mounting a root and branch attack on the plaintiffs claim, pursued some unmeritorious contentions. The appellants featured prominently because of the size of their orders. It cannot also be seriously argued that there was no intention to enter into a legal relationship. While commercial entities ought not to be given a licence to relax their vigilance, the policy considerations in refusing to enforce mistaken agreements militate against attaching undue weight to the carelessness involved in spawning the mistake. 71 The sixth plaintiffs position can be dealt with very briefly. Chwee Kin Keong and others v Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd [2005] 1 SLR(R) 502; [2005] SGCA 2. While they did not invariably admit that their searches were made prior to each of the respective transactions, it was plain that they did not tell the whole truth about, 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. 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. Web merchants ought to ensure that they either contract out of the receipt rule or expressly insert salient terms within the contract to deal with issues such as a choice of law, jurisdiction and other essential terms relating to the passing of risk and payment. Contract doctrine is substantially predicated upon achieving an ethical equilibrium between the individualistic ethic and community ethic in order to protect reasonable or legitimate expectations. Voces del tesauro. Desmond: 13/01/20 01:24 just ordered 3 colour lazer printer for S$66.00 each. 33 After his first order, the second plaintiff contacted the fourth and fifth plaintiffs informing them about the laser printers. Article24 of the Convention states: For the purposes of this Part of the Convention, an offer, declaration of acceptance or any other indication of intention reaches the addressee when it is made orally to him or delivered by any other means to him personally, to his place of business or mailing address or, if he does not have a place of business or mailing address, to his habitual residence. Despite the general views expressed in Taylor v Johnson (1983) 151CLR 422 on equitable mistake, it seems to be generally accepted in Australia as well, that this class of cases requires special mention and consideration. It became apparent that the plaintiffs misplaced reliance on the extract earlier cited probably also explained their singularly odd conduct in applying for amendments, only to withdraw their application later in attempting to deny the defendant an opportunity to amend its pleadings. Secondly, widening the scope of mistake, unilateral or otherwise, under the rubric of equitable mistake will, with its malleability, only encourage uncertainty and litigation. case concerning the purchase of laser printers from an online retailer, Chwee Kin Keong v Digilandmall 76 : To effect the purchase transactions on the respective websites, the plaintiffs had to navigate through several web pages. 110 In OT Africa Line Ltd v Vickers Plc [1996] 1Lloyds Rep 700 at 703, ManceJ held that the objective theory ought not to apply if a party had knowledge that a mistake had occurred: The question is what is capable of displacing that apparent agreement. However, if the defendant did not have stock, it would immediately call the supplier and procure the products for the end-user. 156 The plaintiffs claims are dismissed. The unusual product description of 55 which the fourth plaintiff alone reluctantly acknowledged as weird and unusual would have been a red light signal that an error had occurred. 111 In Chwee Kin Keong v Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd [2005] 1 SLR(R) 502 ("Chwee Kin Keong"), this court said at [101]: Under O 20 r 5(1) of the Rules of Court (Cap 322, R 5, 2004 Rev Ed), the court may grant leave to amend a pleading at any stage of the proceedings. Comments Published in English: [2004] 2 SLR 594; [2004] SGHC 71. . 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. What is urged is that, owing to a common error as to some fundamental fact, the agreement is robbed of all efficacy. [emphasis added].

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