Privity
See also: Privity in English lawA promise is enforceable if it is supported by consideration, that is, where consideration has moved from the promisee. For example, in the case of Tweddle v Atkinson, John Tweddle promised William Guy that he would pay a sum of money to the child of William Guy, and likewise William Guy promised John Tweddle that he would pay a sum of money to the child of John Tweddle, upon the marriage of the two children to each other. However, William Guy failed to pay the son of John Tweddle, who then sued his executors for the amount promised. It was held that the son could not enforce the promise made to his father, as he himself had not actually given consideration for it - it was his father who had done so instead. The son didn't receive any consideration, so he cannot enforce the promise. This particular rule of consideration forms the basis of the doctrine of privity of a contract, that is, only a party to a contract is permitted to sue upon that contract's terms. (Note that the doctrine of privity has been somewhat altered by the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999.) Therefore consideration from the promisee was indulgent of the claim. Although consideration must move from the promisee, it does not necessarily have to move to the promisor. The promisee may provide consideration to a third party, if this is agreed at the time the parties contracted (see Bolton v Madden).
The offeree must provide consideration, although the consideration does not have to flow to the offeror. For example, it is good consideration for person A to pay person C in return for services rendered by person B. If there are joint promisees, then consideration need only to move from one of the promisees. (see Price v Easton)
Read more about this topic: Consideration In English Law
Other articles related to "privity":
... Privity of contract cases Tomlinson v Gill (1756) Ambler 330 Tweddle v Atkinson EWHC QB J57 Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre v Selfridge Co Ltd AC 847 DeCicco v Schweizer ... Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 Nisshin Shipping Ltd v Cleaves Ltd EWHC 2602 see Privity in English law See also Privity in English law and Privity of ... has a legitimate interest in its performance, a 1996 report by the Law Commission entitled Privity of Contract Contracts for the Benefit of Third Parties, recommended that while courts should be left ...
... The case turned on the existence of any exceptions to privity ... Iacobucci first affirmed the existence of an agency exception to privity, and then expanded on the "principled exception to the privity of contract doctrine" established in London Drugs v ... by both common sense and commercial reality, in order to determine whether the doctrine of privity with respect to third-party beneficiaries should be ...
... The doctrine of privity emerged alongside the doctrine of consideration, the rules of which state that consideration must move from the promisee ... Privity of Contract played a key role in the development of negligence as well ... The courts however decided that there was no privity of contract between manufacturer and consumer ...
... Privity of estate is a "mutual or successive relation to the same right in property", such as the relationship between a landlord and tenant ... That is, privity of estate refers to the legal relationship two parties bear when their estates constitute one estate in law ... Privity of estate involves rights and duties that run with the land, that original parties intend to bind successors, and that touch and concern the land ...