ABSTRACT
Contracts are illegal if the performance or creation of the agreement will cause the parties to engage in activity that is illegal. The chapter presents the categories of contract that are illegal and unenforceable. Contracts to defraud Revenue and Customs are also illegal. An illegal contract is void ab initio; and the contract will be treated as though it has never existed. Illegal agreements can be broken down into two broad areas: Contracts illegal by statute and Contracts illegal at common law. Contracts that are damaging to public safety or foreign relations will be illegal. A category of illegality concerns contracts that are prejudicial to the administration of justice. Contracts leading to corruption in public life will be illegal. In the nineteenth century all contracts in restraint of trade would probably have been void, in alignment with the doctrine of freedom of contract; but, as time has progressed, the harshness of this principle has gradually relaxed.
