Harding v Coburn

976 Year 976 ( CMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * January 10 – Emperor John I Tzimiskes dies at Constantinople, after ret ...

2 NZLR 577 was a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

case that was one of the first that upheld that the

Illegal Contracts Act 1970 The Illegal Contracts Act 970'' is a New Zealand law that manages how contracts are deemed illegal under either common law or under Statute. Under this law, all such contracts are deemed illegal, but it gives wide discretionary powers to grant r ...

had the power to validate (i.e. make legal) despite the fact that another legal enactment "deemed to be unlawful and shall have no effect".

Background

Harding sold their farm to Coburn. Unfortunately, the parties neglected to get the sale approved by the Court, as required under s25(4) of the Land Settlement Promotion and Land Acquisition Act

952 Year 952 ( CMLII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Summer – At the Reichstag in Augsburg (assembled by King Otto I), joined by German nob ...

Under this Act, failure to obtain such a consent made the sale "unlawful and shall have no effect". As a consequence, Coburn sought the relief of validation under section 7 of the Illegal Contracts Act 1970. Harding's lawyers argued that as the sale was illegal under the Land Settlement Promotion and Land Acquisition Act, there was no legally enforceable sale agreement.

Decision

The Court of Appeal ruled that the courts had the power to validate contracts that are deemed illegal unless the other Act expressly prohibits validation under the Illegal Contracts Act.

References

Footnote: This position was later upheld by the Privy Council in

Ross v Henderson Ross v Henderson 9772 NZLR 458 is a cited case in New Zealand regarding illegal contracts that were later upheld that the Illegal Contracts Act 1970 had the power to validate (i.e. make legal) despite the fact that another legal enactment "deeme ...

977 Year 977 ( CMLXXVII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * May – Boris II, dethroned emperor (''tsar'') of Bulgaria, and his brother Roman ma ...

2 NZLR 458. New Zealand contract case law Court of Appeal of New Zealand cases 1976 in case law 1976 in New Zealand law {{NewZealand-case-law-stub