ABSTRACT
Capacity is considered at this point as one of the factors that is needed before an enforceable contract can be made. Alternatively, of course, the issue can be looked at from the opposite point of view: that is, incapacity can be regarded as a ‘vitiating factor’ that prevents a contract being enforced. Whichever approach is taken (and it really does not much matter which), the rules relating to capacity are a reflection of the fact that the law of contract recognises that in some situations people need protection from themselves, in that they may enter into agreements that are not to their benefit, because they are not capable of properly understanding the implications of what they are doing. The argument may seem a little dubious where the ‘incapable’ individual is an intelligent 17-year-old, but the law can only operate practically by the use of broad categories and fixed borderlines.
