''Great Peace Shipping Ltd v Tsavliris (International) Ltd'' [2002
EWCA Civ 1407
(also known as ''The Great Peace'') is a case on English contract law and on

maritime salvage Marine salvage is the process of recovering a ship and its cargo after a shipwreck or other maritime casualty. Salvage may encompass towing, re-floating a vessel, or effecting repairs to a ship. Today, protecting the coastal environment from s ...

. It investigates when a Mistake (contract law)#Common mistake, common mistake within a contractual agreement will render it void. It is notable for its Mechanisms of the English common law, "disapproval" of ''

Solle v Butcher ''Solle v Butcher'' 9501 KB 671 is an English contract law case, concerning the right to have a contract declared voidable in equity. Denning LJ reaffirmed a class of "equitable mistakes" in his judgment, which enabled a claimant to avoid a con ...

'', a 1950 Court of Appeal case in which

Lord Denning Alfred Thompson "Tom" Denning, Baron Denning (23 January 1899 – 5 March 1999) was an English lawyer and judge. He was called to the bar of England and Wales in 1923 and became a King's Counsel in 1938. Denning became a judge in 1944 wh ...

had established a doctrine of "equitable mistake". ''Great Peace'' ruled that the thinking underlying ''Solle v. Butcher'' "could not stand in the face of the earlier decision of the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

in '' Bell v. Lever Bros.''".Martin-Clark, D.
'Great Peace'
accessed 21 March 2023

Facts

The defendants, Tsavliris, were professional salvors in the business of

and rendering aid to ships in difficulty in the

South Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

. Learning that a vessel named ''Cape Providence'' was in trouble, Tsavliris entered into a salvage agreement with the owners on

LOF Lof (Spanish: ''levo'' and ''lov'') or caví (Spanish: ''cahuín''); formed the basic social organization of the Mapuche, Mapuche-Huilliche and the extinct Picunche peoples, consisting of a familial clan or lineage that recognizes the authority o ...

terms. Tsavliris used the Ocean Routes service to try to locate the nearest rescue vessel, and were told that there was one about 35 miles away called the ''Great Peace''. Using London brokers called Marint, Tsavliris contacted the ''Great Peace's'' owners, and agreement was made to hire the tug for a minimum of five days. It then became apparent that the ''Great Peace'' was not 35 miles from the ''Cape Providence'', but 410 miles. Tsavliris then found a closer tug and terminated the contract with Great Peace Ltd, who responded by suing for gross breach of contract. Tsavliris argued it was a common mistake as to the location of the stricken vessel and this invalidated the contract.

Judgment

Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers MR held that the mistake was not sufficiently fundamental to void the contract. The ''Great Peace'' would have taken 22 hours to do 410 miles, but that delay was insufficient to make performance of the contract ‘essentially different from those the parties envisaged when the contract was concluded.’ In the course of the judgment, ''

McRae v Commonwealth Disposals Commission ''McRae v Commonwealth Disposals Commission'',. is an Australian contract law case, relevant for English contract law, concerning the common mistake about the possibility of performing an agreement. Facts The Commonwealth Disposals Commission ...

'',. was approved, and ''

'' was disapproved:

Notes

References

{{reflist English contract case law Court of Appeal (England and Wales) cases 2002 in case law 2002 in British law

Facts

Judgment

See also

Notes

References