There was an agreement by which the plaintiffs agreed to breed and provide chicks to nominated growers, the number of chicks to be provided to be ‘not less than 30,000 per week nor more than 80,000 per week during the first year of the agreement and thereafter such other figures as may be agreed between the parties’. The agreement provided for a reference to an arbitrator in the event that there was a dispute between the parties.
Held: The agreement was binding.
Danckwerts LJ contrasted a difference between the parties which was a mere failure to agree, with a dispute.
Lord Denning said of the contract: ‘The provision that figures were ‘to be agreed’ does not nullify the contract’. In a commercial agreement the further the parties have gone on with their contract, the more ready are the courts to imply any reasonable term so as to give effect to their intentions: ‘When much has been done the courts will do their best not to destroy the bargain.’
Judges:
Danckwerts LJ, Lord Denning MR
Citations:
[1967] 1 Lloyds Rep 53
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Amec Civil Engineering Ltd v Secretary of State for Transport CA 17-Mar-2005
The contractors appealed a decision that an arbitrator had jurisdiction to hear a claim against them in respect of works carried out on the Thelwall viaduct. The contractors denied that there had been a dispute which could found a reference, and no . .
Cited – MRI Trading Ag v Erdenet Mining Corporation Llc CA 8-Mar-2013
The Commercial Court had found the result of an arbitration award ‘obviously wrong’, and ineed bizarre.
Held: The appeal failed. The award was flawed, in failing to take account of the trading context between the parties: ‘The overall . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Contract
Updated: 07 February 2022; Ref: scu.224302