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Misrepresentation in English contract law and English tort law refers to a situation where a person is induced to enter into a contract entirely or partly by a false assertion (of fact, not opinion or intention) made by the other contracting party. Claims that can be described as sales talk, such as advertising slogans, are not misrepresentations. If a misrepresentation is incorporated as a term of the contract, it may form the basis of an action for breach of contract, and contractual remedies. If not, the misrepresentee (the party influenced by the misrepresentation of the other party) may be able to rescind (withdraw from) the contract or obtain damages. A misrepresentation may be made fraudulently, negligently, or non‐negligently (innocently).〔(and misrepresentation" in The New Oxford Companion to Law, Peter Cane and Joanne Conaghan, Oxford University Press, 2008, ISBN 9780199290543 )〕 A related term is "misstatement": a false assertion that causes harm other than by inducing a person to enter a contract.〔 Contract law deals with the contractual implications of misrepresentation; in most cases〔For the exception, see s 2(2) Misrepresentation Act 1967〕 English law allows escape from a bargain when a contracting party has not given true consent due to misrepresentation. Tort law deals with civil wrongs and remedies. When a misrepresentation has been made and an agreement was (or at any rate appeared to be) concluded, the misrepresentee does not have to bring a halt to the deal. Misrepresentations generally do not render a contract void, as does the contractual doctrine of common mistake or frustration; it makes a contract voidable at the option of the misrepresentee. Not all contracts entered into on the strength of misrepresentations will be bad for the misrepresentee, who may choose not to void the contract. Remedies are partly regulated by the Misrepresentation Act 1967. English law generally allows a contract to be unwound, so that both parties are put back into the position before the agreement was made. It may be that the misrepresentation was incorporated into the contract as a term, so as an alternative one can claim the contract should subsist and claim for a loss in expectations.〔See, ''Oscar Chess Ltd v Williams'' () 1 All ER 325, where a Morris car was represented to be a 1948 book based on the log book but the car dealers were the buyers; ''Dick Bentley Productions Ltd v Harold Smith (Motors) Ltd'' () 2 All ER 65, where the seller was a dealer and should have known the car was bad; ''Esso Petroleum Co Ltd v Mardon'' () 2 All ER 5, where Esso knew better than the franchisee about the station's predictable throughput.〕 In this case the misrepresentee can equally sue for damages as if the misrepresentation had been true. A misrepresentee may also sue for any losses due to relying on the misrepresentation. In some cases, a claim for misrepresentation in contract, may also in parallel, be grounds for an action for deceit in tort, which has different rules and a different basis for damages. ==What is misrepresentation?== A misrepresentation is a false statement of fact or law〔''Kleinwort Benson Ltd v Lincoln City Council'' () 2 AC 349, abolished a bar on mistake of law bar and ''Pankhania v Hackney LBC'' () EWHC 2441 (Ch) held the same went for misrepresentation under Misrepresentation Act 1967 s 2(1) where agents of a land seller incorrectly said that people running a car park on some property were licensees rather than protected business tenants〕 that is relied on by the other party in entering a contract. For example in ''Curtis v Chemical Cleaning and Dyeing Co''〔() 1 KB 805〕 Ms Curtis took a wedding dress with beads and sequins to the cleaners. They gave her a contract to sign and she asked the assistant what it was. The assistant said it was to stop risk to the beads. In fact the contract exempted all liability. The dress was stained. But the exclusion was ineffective because of the assistant's misrepresentation. The law does not consider that "mere puff" or "sales talk" are misrepresentations. For example, a second-hand car dealer claiming "this is the fastest car ever", or a washing detergent company advertising that their product "will clean your clothes whiter than white" are not considered misrepresentations, as a reasonable person would be unlikely to take such claims seriously.〔see ''Smith v Hughes'' (1871) LR 6 QB 597〕 There are two essential steps in claiming a remedy for misrepresentation. The first is to show that a misrepresentation took place, and the second is to show that it was relied upon when entering the contract. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Misrepresentation in English law」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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