ABSTRACT
Contracts of this type are said to fall within the area of restraint of trade – they restrict or prevent trade and competition. Somewhat paradoxically, therefore, it is possible for the courts, in upholding freedom of contract, to uphold contracts containing a significant element of restraint. This was recognised by Lord Atkinson in Herbert Morris Ltd v Saxelby in 1916 when he said that: ‘Two principles or views of public policy come into conflict in such cases as these, namely, freedom of trade and freedom of contract. While the community is vitally interested in trade being free, it is also vitally interested in people being free to contract and being held to their contracts.’
