Illegality and Public Policy

The new edition of Illegality and Public Policy builds on the strengths of its predecessors in its comprehensiveness, extensive case reference and coverage of the allied area of Restraint of Trade. It also offers fresh coverage of Illegality in employment contracts, extensive coverage of up-to-date work by the Law Commission in this field, and worked examples to illustrate the complexities of the field.Sets out the law relating to illegality and public policy in the context of contracts and the possible undesirable consequences which an agreement may have for society at largeOpening chapters cover the distinction between ‘statutory illegality’ and illegality derived purely from common law, the need to distinguish between an agreement, and the surrounding circumstances, when ascribing degrees of responsibility for any illegality to the parties involved, and the relationship between criminal law and civil lawConsiders the nature and scope of the doctrine of ‘Public Policy’, looking at such matters as contracts affected by fraud or corruption, issues relating to the integrity of the legal process and the application of public policy to cases with an international dimensionHighlights potential original arguments for challenging and examining contractsAnalyses the difficult topic of the statutory prohibition of ContractsConsiders the effect of criminal activity under the enforceability of a contractDeals at length with the topic of the restraint of TradeCovers illegality as it relates to employment lawExamines relief from the consequences of illegalityIncludes hypothetical but very practical examples which ground an otherwise elusive subject within practical experienceExplores Commonwealth Case Law suggesting new possible solutions in matters of illegalityExamines in detail the Law Com 32 report by the Law commission regarding the Illegality defenceLooks afresh at the new statute dealing with forfeiture – The Estate of Dead Persons Act 211Whats NewThere have been numerous decisions on illegality in the past four years which are examined within the new edition. On the general doctrine of ex turpi causa ie ‘ no cause of action from an untrustworthy source:Nayyar v Denton Wilde Sapte [29] EWHC 3218The enforceability of indemnities against illegal acts was considered in:Coulson v News Group Newspapers [211] EWHC 3482and Mulcaire v News Group Newspapers [211] EWHC 3469Other decisions examined include:Relevant Court of Appeal decisions during the period include cases on champerty/legal process:- Simpson v Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital Trust [211] EWCA Civ 1149 The consequences of statutory prohibitions were considered afresh in:- Westlaw Services v Boddy [21] EWCA Civ 929 - Lediaev v Allen [29] EWCA Civ 156 Other commented cases and practice areas:- Safeway Stores v Twigger [21] EWCA Civ 1472 (illegality in competition)- Parkingeye Ltd v Somerfield Stores Ltd [212] EWCA Civ 1338 (general doctrine of ex turpi causa)- Sibthorpe v Southwark LBC [211] EWCA Civ 25 (champerty/legal process)- Craig Joseph v Jason Spiller and 1311 Events Ltd [29] EWCA 175 (statutory illegality)- Hounga v Allen [212] EWCA Civ 69 (effect of race discrimination on legal process)Restraint of trade:- Proactive Sports Management Ltd v Rooney [211] EWCA Civ 1444 In the four years (29-212) since the last edition the House of Lords/Supreme Court considered issues relating to illegality on four occasions. Gray v Thames Trains [29] UKHL 33 (consequences of criminal act)Stone & Rolls v Moore Stephens [29] UKHL 39 (effects of fraud)Welwyn v Hatfield BC [211] UKSC 15 (no benefit from crime)Granatino v Radmacher [211] AC 534 (enforceability of pre-nuptial agreements)The new edition will also: Examine in detail the Law Com 32 report by the Law commission regarding the Illegality defence. Ie this report recommends statutory reform to the law of trusts. Where a trust has been set up to conceal the beneficiary’s interest in order to commit a criminal offence, the report recommends that legislation should provide the judges with discretion to deprive the beneficiary of their interest in limited circumstancesLook afresh at the new statute dealing with forfeiture – The Estate of Dead Persons Act 211Provide detailed commentary of the Coulson v News Group Newspaper case and also the Mulcaire v News Group Newspapers case. Both cases hinge around News group Newspapers not being contractually liable to pay any of the editors or reporters legal fees that arose as a consequence of criminal allegations made against them personally .The obligation to pay legal fees arose only in respect of lawful activities flowing from their time in the employment of News group NewspapersCONTENTSPreface to the First Edition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viiPreface to the Second Edition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ixTable of Cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xviiTable of Statutes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxxixTable of European Cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xliTable of European Treaties and Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xliiiPARA.INTRODUCTION1. Nature and Scope of Illegality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Int.12. Structure of the Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Int.6PART ONECONTRAVENING THE LAW1. CRIME, TORT AND STATUTORY ILLEGALITY1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.12. Seriousness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.2(a) Deliberate Acts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.2(b) Possible Approaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.53. The Nature of Statutory Illegality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.8(a) Separate from ‘‘Common Law’’ Illegality . . . . . . . . . . 1.8(b) Contractual Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.13(c) Statutory Duties in Tort and Crime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.15(d) Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.172. IMPLIED PROHIBITION OF CONTRACTS1. Nature of the Doctrine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.12. Techniques of Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.53. The Doctrine of Implied Prohibition in Practice . . . . . . . . 2.14. Statutory Interpretation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.145. Conditional Agreements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.19(a) Compliance with Legal Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.19(b) Contractual Allocation of Responsibility . . . . . . . . . . . 2.233. UNLAWFUL PERFORMANCE1. Scope of the Chapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.12. Executory Contracts and Ignorance of the Law . . . . . . . . . 3.2(a) Illegality Irrelevant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2(b) Illegality Confused With Other Concepts . . . . . . . . . . 3.43. Position of the Party Responsible for UnlawfulPerformance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.124. Position of the ‘‘Innocent’’ Party . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.184. KNOWLEDGE AND PARTICIPATION1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.12. Extent of Claimant’s Involvement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.3(a) Mere Awareness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.3(b) Participation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.6(c) Contractual Obligation Not Required . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.11(d) Involvement in a Related Transaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.133. Where the Illegal Scheme is Especially Grave . . . . . . . . . . 4.214. Performance Unlawful from the Outset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.26(a) Rights of the ‘‘Innocent’’ Party . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.26(b) ‘‘Excusable Ignorance’’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.29(c) ‘‘Promises’’ and ‘‘Warranties’’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.325. INDEMNITY AND FORFEITURE1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.12. Recovery of Criminal Penalties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.23. Recovery of Damages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.9(a) Policy Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.9(b) Intentional Wrongdoing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.13(c) Exemplary Damages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.184. Suicide and Life Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.22(a) Enforceability by the Deceased’s Estate . . . . . . . . . . . 5.22(b) Assignment of Life Policies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.255. Succession and Forfeiture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.29(a) At Common Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.29(b) By Statute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.346. ‘‘No Benefit From A Crime’’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.39PART TWOPUBLIC POLICY6. POLICY AND MORALITY1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.12. Public Policy in the Courts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2(a) Nature of Public Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2(b) Factors to be Taken into Account . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.13. Marriage and Sexual Morality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.14(a) Marriage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.14(b) Sexual Relationships Outside Marriage . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.24. Public Policy in Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.267. FRAUD AND CORRUPTION1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.12. Fraudulent Contracts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.33. Defrauding the Revenue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.9(a) General Applicability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.9(b) Deceptive Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.1(c) Evading Income Tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.12(d) Degrees of Blameworthiness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.194. Corrupt Bargains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.255. Confidentiality Agreements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.28(a) Payment for Silence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.28(b) Libellous Communications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.29(c) Concealment of Criminality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.32(d) Disclosure and the Public Interest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.358. COMPROMISING THE LEGAL PROCESS1. Categories of Cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.12. Contracts to Stifle Prosecutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.4(a) Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.4(b) Offences of Differing Gravity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.5(c) Concealing an Arrestable Offence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.1(d) Existing Liabilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.12(e) Illegality and Duress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.179. MAINTENANCE AND CHAMPERTY1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.12. Lawful Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.73. Champerty . . . . . . . . . . . . .CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATIONRichard Buckley has been a professor at the University of Reading since 1993. He was formerly Fellow and Tutor in Law at Mansfield College in Oxford and Lecturer in Laws at Kings College London. He is also a contributing editor to Clerk and Lindsell on Torts and formerly to Salmond and Heuston on Torts.