Yonge v Toynbee

910 Year 910 ( CMX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. __NOTOC__ Events By place Europe * June 12 – Battle of Augsburg: The Hungarians defeat the East Frankish army under ...

1 KB 215 is a case in

British law The United Kingdom has four legal systems, each of which derives from a particular geographical area for a variety of historical reasons: English and Welsh law, Scots law, Northern Ireland law, and, since 2007, purely Welsh law (as a result of ...

regarding the legal effects of a party entering a

contract A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tran ...

, and later discovered to be

insane Insanity, madness, lunacy, and craziness are behaviors performed by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity can be manifest as violations of societal norms, including a person or persons becoming a danger to themselves or to ...

Background

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 the p ...

commenced

defamation Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...

action in the court against the

defendant In court proceedings, a defendant is a person or object who is the party either accused of committing a crime in criminal prosecution or against whom some type of civil relief is being sought in a civil case. Terminology varies from one jurisdic ...

and instructed the lawyers W and Sons to act on their behalf. During these proceedings and unbeknown to their lawyers, the plaintiff was declared legally insane. As a result, the plaintiff's legal action was struck out by the court by the defendant and then sought costs from W and Sons on the basis that they had no

legal authority Authority is the power to command. Authority or The Authority may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media *''Authority (album)'', a 2014 album by British electronic music group Client *Authority (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit), "Authorit ...

to represent the plaintiff, as the plaintiff was insane, even though they had no knowledge at the time. The defendant was not legally liable for the costs because of the plaintiff's insanity.

Decision

The defendant's lawyers were liable for costs, as their implied agency to act on the behalf of their defendant ended with the insanity of their client. English contract case law 1910 in case law 1910 in British law