Protecting Reliance: The Emergent Doctrine of Equitable Estoppel

Description

One party induces an assumption in the mind of another. Australian law has arguably given expression to three moral duties relating to induced assumptions: the duty to keep promises, the duty not to lie and the duty to ensure the reliability of induced assumptions. This work expounds the third of these duties and shows how it can be used to shape "equitable" estoppel, a doctrine emerging from the decisions of the High Court of Australia in "Waltons Stores" and "Verwayen". It does not purport to cover the entire law of estoppel, but does examine analytically how the doctrine might operate in a series of problematic cases at the edge of contract law.

Michael Spence is a Fellow and Tutor in Law of St Catherine's College, Oxford.

This well-written book deserves a wide readership. I would recommend it to all those involved in the practice or teaching of the law of obligations and also to legal taxonomists. To the legal practicioner in search of the most appropriate authority to support a particular aspect of equitable estoppel, the rich source of cases in the footnotes (including unreported Australian decisions) is a bonus. -- D Y K Fung * Journal of Contract Law July 2001 * One can only admire this book's brevity, clarity, and purpose... This provocative book will no doubt be the subject of much discussion. -- J.E. Penner * The Conveyancer and Property Lawyer September 2002 *