Undue Influnce in law of Contract Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Undue Influnce in law of Contract - Essay Example e banks agents for the purpose of advising Mrs Etridge and the bank was entitled to rely on the solicitors assurances, even though those were false† (United Settlement n.d.). Under English law, undue influence is a reason for rescinding a contract if it can be proved by the victim. There are many relationships where one party can hold influence over another due to its inherent nature. An employer can have influence over an employee or a husband can have influence over his wife. But it need be undue influence or through duress for a contract to be set aside. According to Lord Nicholls, one of the judges in this case, â€Å"The law has set limits to the means properly employable for this purpose. To this end the common law developed a principle of duress† (United Kingdom House of Lords 2001). Under English law there is no precise definition as to what constitutes undue influence and will depend upon the circumstances of each case. But what should be proved is that a relati onship with influence has been to abused or exploited to claim undue influence (e-lawresources.co.uk n.d.).In this particular case, since there was no evidence of undue influence by Mrs Etrdige’s husband, the fact that she had sought independent advice is not relevant. So it can be said that unless undue influence existed and the same is proved by the wronged party, there is no recourse and a contract is valid. In any relationship, either of the parties can be in a position to receive information that should not be made public. It can be between a lawyer and client, between a doctor and patient, or a banker and customer (O’Neill 2007). So if a relationship has this feature, then it is a confidential relationship. Here again there is no formal definition, and the fact whether a relationship is confidential will depend on the facts of each case. In that sense, the relation between husband and wife can be deemed to be confidential in nature since they may share information which should not be