ABSTRACT
Lord Phillips MR: ‘ 28. A mistake can be simply defi ned as an erroneous belief. Mistakes have relevance in the law of contract in a number of diff erent circumstances. They may prevent the mutuality of agreement that is necessary for the formation of a contract. In order for two parties to conclude a contract binding in law each must agree with the other the terms of the contract. Whether two parties have entered into a contract in this way must be judged objectively, having regard to all the material facts. It may be that each party mistakenly believes that he has entered into such a contract in circumstances where an objective appraisal of the facts reveals that no agreement has been reached as to the terms of the contract. Such a case was Raffl es v Wichelhaus (1864) 2 H & C 906 . . .
