Scammell and Nephew Ltd v Ouston [1941] 1 AC 251 is an English contract law

English contract law

English contract law is a body of law regulating contracts 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 across the Commonwealth , and the United States...

 case, concerning the certainty of an agreement

Agreement in English law

In English contract law, an agreement establishes the first stage in the existence of a contract. The three main elements of contractual formation are whether there is offer and acceptance consideration an intention to be legally bound....

. It stands as an example of a relatively rare case where a court cannot find some way in which a contract can be made to work.

Facts

The claimants wished to trade in their old van for a new van with the defendants. They agreed a price for the old van’s trade in, but only that they would pay for the new van ‘on hire purchase terms’ for two years. The defendants subsequently pulled out of the agreement, and when the claimants attempted to sue, the defendants argued that the agreement could not be enforced because it was too uncertain.

Judgment

The House of Lords held this was too vague for the contract to be enforced. There was no objective standard by which the court could know what price was intended or what a reasonable price might be. Viscount Simon LC, Viscount Maugham, Lord Russell and Lord Wright all gave speeches.