''Glasbrook Brothers Ltd. v Glamorgan County Council''

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UKHL 3 (19 December 1924) Glamorgan CC v Glasbrook Bros Ltd [1924] UKHL 3 (19 December 1924)
accessed 1 November 2016 is an

English contract law English contract law is the body of law that regulates legally binding agreements in England and Wales. With its roots in the lex mercatoria and the activism of the judiciary during the industrial revolution, it shares a heritage with countries ...

and

labour law Labour laws (also known as labor laws or employment laws) are those that mediate the relationship between workers, employing entities, trade unions, and the government. Collective labour law relates to the tripartite relationship between employee, ...

case concerning the liability of private parties paying for extra police protection.

Facts

During a strike, Glasbrook Brothers (the owners of a colliery) requested

police protection The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...

in the form of a body of officers quartered on the premises; though the police only had the resources to make visiting patrols, they offered to place constables in exchange for a financial contribution. After the strike, the police presented the colliery with a bill for the provided services; the colliery refused to pay and so the police sued. The issue before the court was whether the police authority had provided fresh

consideration Consideration is a concept of English common law and is a necessity for simple contracts but not for special contracts (contracts by deed). The concept has been adopted by other common law jurisdictions. The court in '' Currie v Misa'' declar ...

for Glasbrook Bros' promise to pay.

Judgment

The

colliery Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

owners repudiated liability on the grounds that there was no consideration for the promise to pay for the police protection and that such an agreement was against

public policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to solve or address relevant and real-world problems, guided by a conception and often implemented by programs. Public ...

. The case was tried by Mr. Justice Bailhache and he entered judgment for the

Plaintiff A plaintiff ( Π in legal shorthand) is the party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an ''action'') before a court. By doing so, the plaintiff seeks a legal remedy. If this search is successful, the court will issue judgment in favor of t ...

s, saying :— "There is an obligation on the police to afford efficient protection, but if an individual asks for special protection in a particular form, for the special protection so asked for in that particular form, the individual must pay." This decision was affirmed by a majority on the appeal (Bankes, L.J. and Scrutton, L.J.; Atkin, L.J. dissenting). The colliery owners now appeal and ask that judgment should be entered for them. It appears to me that there is nothing in the first point made for the colliery owners that there was no consideration for the promise. It is clear that there was abundant consideration. The police authorities thought that it would be best to give protection by means of a flying column of police, but the colliery owners wanted the "garrison" and promised to pay for it if it was sent.

Significance

It has long been accepted that where a party merely does something by which he is already legally bound this can never be sufficient to amount to consideration for an entirely fresh agreement. This basic rule can be seen in operation in ''Collins v Godfrey''

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109 ER 1040. ''Glasbrook Bros v Glamorgan County Council'' is the first major exception to the rule identified. It will be adequate

where what is given is more than could have been expected from performance of the existing duty, where in fact something extra is added to what the claimant is already bound to do. The extra element is the consideration for the new promise. This principle will apply where public duty is exceeded as seen in this case.

References

{{reflist English contract case law Glamorgan 1924 in case law 1924 in British law

Facts

Judgment

Significance

See also

References