CONTRACT II LAWS1042 DURESS
TUTORIAL 4 DURESS
Zack imports meat into Hong Kong and sells it to retailers throughout the territory.
Amy is a pork monger. In 2024, Zack concluded a contract with Amy according to
which he would provide her with 10,000 kilograms of pork per month at a price of
$25 per kilogram. The agreement was to commence in February 2024 and
terminate in August 2027.
During 2024, the wholesale market price of pork rose steadily from $25 per
kilogram to $100 and continues to stay at this level. Amy is having trouble
meeting her financial obligations to her creditors, but the fact that she is
purchasing so much pork from Zack at a substantially below-market price means
that she is just able to stave off bankruptcy.
Yesterday, Zack met with Amy. He offered her a four-year contract, starting
immediately, under which he would sell her 5,000 kilograms of chicken meat per
month at $30 per kilogram. The wholesale market price for chicken meat was
$10 per kilogram. All other essential terms were included in the offer.
The following words were then exchanged:
Amy: I don’t need any chicken meat; I am a pork monger. I don’t know
anything about chicken meat, and my customers don’t visit me for chicken
meat.
Zack: I know that you are in financial difficulty and that you depend on my
cheap pork to stay out of trouble. I will stop supplying the pork unless you
agree to the chicken deal.
Amy: That’s [expletive] outrageous. We have a deal with the pork.
Zack: You must take it or leave it right now – or the pork stops.
Amy: You have me trapped. I accept the chicken deal. But my cousin is a
lawyer and I will be talking to him.
Advise Amy as to whether as to whether she can “get out” of the chicken meat
deal with Zack based on your knowledge of the law of duress.
Would your advice differ in any way if after the pork contract had ended in 2027
Zack had said to Amy “no new pork contract at a cheap price unless you agree to
the chicken deal “
Reading Fisher &Greenwood 11.1
Hall 16.1
See also Fine Vision Opportunity III v Xinyuan Real Estate Co Ltd [2024] 5
HKLRD 300 .Read up to para 32
CONTRACT II LAWS1042 DURESS
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