offer, the seller had established an intention to create legal relations. Case law once again stepped in where regulation around advertisement and health risks was poor. One of the most famous and consequential judges remains Lord Denning. Promissory estoppel, the idea that one cannot go back on a promise once relied upon, is so prevalent and intuitive to modern practice that its absence is inconceivable. It introduced a degree of flex - ibility to prevent unfairness and injustice in a rent-recovery case, where property landlords tried to recover full rent for a period during which they had promised to reduce it (in the war). We see once again the role of the courts in responding to circumstances and finding threads linking decision-making to much more current settings. Contract law, dependent as it is on a differentiation between major and minor terms, with remedies flowing from these, can often lead to unfair or unjust results. Accordingly, here again, judicial decision- making has been adept at showing innovation and adaptability. For example, in the case of Hong Kong Fir Shipping Co., a ship chartered for 24 months was delivered late and in poor condition, causing significant delays. The charterers sought to terminate the contract, arguing that the ship was unseaworthy. The court introduced the concept of innominate terms, allowing more flexibility in remedies. If these cases predominantly dealt with risk, responsibility, and liability in commercial spheres, the courts have not been averse to pushing social and cultural boundaries or responding to cultural change either. The Lady Chatterley’s Lover obscenity trial, brought by the Crown as prosecutor against Penguin Books, famously asked the court whether this was a book “you would wish your
wife or servants to read.” This was in 1960. Penguin Books won the case, leading to the liberalisation of publishing laws and changes in attitudes, having a significant cultural impact. More recent cases, such as the BHS collapse following significant, serious and systematic mismanagement by Phillip Green, which left a pension deficit for workers, led to many investigations. The legal pressure and public scrutiny brought corporate greed to the forefront of public discourse. Finally, there is no better example of the impact of cases on the cultural framework than the so-called Wagatha Christie trial (Rooney v Vardy) in 2022. This case reflected the social media age, highlighting the intersection between social media, privacy, and defamation. The agility of the English legal system has allowed the law to develop to meet commercial, social and cultural needs and changes.
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