判决理由
In mercantile contracts, time stipulations are generally conditions, breach of which entitles the innocent party to terminate regardless of the seriousness of the consequences. Certainty is of paramount importance in commercial transactions.
事实
A contract for the sale of soya bean meal required the buyers to give 15 days' notice of readiness of the vessel. The buyers gave notice four days late.
判决摘要
The House of Lords held the time stipulation was a condition. In commercial contracts, particularly those involving a string of contracts, certainty required that time clauses be treated as conditions so that parties could know their rights without having to assess the gravity of the breach.
关键引述
"In mercantile contracts, stipulations as to time are usually to be treated as being of the essence."
— Lord Wilberforce
后续处理
Leading authority on the treatment of time clauses as conditions in commercial contracts.