DI

SCHARGEOFCONTRACT

Adischar
geofobl
igat
ionsmeansthatpar
ti
est
othecontr
actarenolongerl
i
ablef
oranyt
erms
oftheagr
eement,
andnof ur
therpr
omisesmaybeenf
orced.Herear
ethethreemai
nwaysthi
s
canoccur.

Acont
ractcanbesai
dtohav
ebeendi
schar
gei
nanyoft
hef
oll
owi
ng;

Byper
for
mance

Byagr
eement

Byf
rust
rat
ion

Bybr
each

1.BYPERFORMANCE: Acont actissaidt obedi schargebyper for

mancei ft
heparti
eshav eful
fil
l
thei
renti
reobligationunderi t.I
nor dertodi schar
geacont ractbyper formance,boththeexpress
andimpliedtermsmustbeper f
ormed.Fur thermore,thetermsmustbeper formedtot he
expectedstandardofper formance. Thiswast hepositionoft hecour tinCutt
ervPowel lwhere
thecourtheldthatperformancemustbepr eci
se,exact,
andcompl ete.Thesetincutt
ervPowel l
i
snotabsol uteasr egardstot heexact ,preciseandcompl eteperformance.Except i
onsincl
ude
severabl
eordi vi
siblecontract(RichievAt kinson),substantialperformance( Daki
nCoLt dvLee) ,
andacceptanceofpar t
ialperformance( planchvCel l
burn).

2.
BYAGREEMENT:I
.eamut
ual agr
eementt
hatt
hecont
ractisnol
ongerbi
ndingonboth
par
ti
es.
Todi
schar
geacont
ractthr
oughagr
eementt
her
ear etwosi
mplerequir
ement
s:

Thedi
schar
gei
smut
ual

Theconsenti
sfr
ee(
Ply
mout
hCor
por
ati
onvHar
vey
)

Inotherwords,aslongasbot hoft hepar t

iesagreetodischargetheirobl
igati
ons, theycando
sofreel
y.Howev er,whathappensi fthereisasubsequentchangeofhear tbyonepar t
y,and
theywishtore-enforcethei
robli
gat i
ons?Att hatpoint
,thecontractmayber e-enfor ced,asthe
agreementtodischar geobl
igat
ionshasnol egalgrounds,despi
teitbeingaper fectlyvalid
agreement.Therefore,i
tisr
ecommendedt hatparti
esform asecondcont ractwhi chbi ndsboth
parti
estothei
rpr omisetodischarget heobli
gationsunderthecont r
act.

3.BYFRUSTRATION:
Thisdoctr
inewasdev el
opedtocurethemischi
efandhardshi
pofthe
commonl awvi
ewofcontr
actualobl
igat
ionsbeingabsol
ute.
InTayl
orvCaldwell
thecour
theld
thatwhenaval
i
dcontr
actisfr
ustrat
edduet ounfor
seenoccurr
ences,t
hesaidContr
actwil
lbe
setasi
de.

Exampl
esoff
rust
rat
ionsi
ncont
ract
*
Dest
ruct
ionoft
hesubj
ectmat
ter(
Tay
lorvCal
dwel
l
)

*
Deat
hori
ncapaci
tyofei
theroft
hepar
ty(
poussar
dvSpi
ers)

*
Out
breakofwar
(Aj
unaJohnsonvU.
A.CNi
gLt
d)

*
Subsequentl
egal
change(Bai
l
yvGr
espi
gny
)

*
Gov
ernmentr
equi
sit
ion(Sy
lvanusUzomavShel
lB.
PCoLt
d)

4.BYBREACH: Thef i
nalwayinwhi chcontr
actualobli
gati
onscanceaset oexi
stisthr
ougha
breachofcontract.Thegeneraldefi
niti
onofabr eachofcontracti
swher ethereisafai
l
ureor
refusalbyoneorbot hoft
hepar ti
est oper
form oneoralloftheobligat
ionsimposeduponthem
underthecontract.
Abreachofcont ractwi
llusuall
yresul
tintheinnocentpartyseeki
ngoneof
thev ar
iouscontr
actualr
emedi esagainstt
hepar tywhobreachedt hecontr
act.SeeUdim vE.
M
&SonsLt dandAveryvBowden

Wr
it
tenbyFel
i
xChi
bui
ke(
uni
ver
sit
yofcal
abar
)

(
07089621300What
sapp)