ABSTRACT
It is a general principle of English law that a promise is not as a rule enforceable in the courts unless it is formalised by incorporation as a deed under seal or supported by ‘consideration’. The purpose of the requirement of consideration is to put some legal limits on the enforceability of agreement when it is informal and gratuitous. The most well known of the numerous definitions of valuable consideration is that of Lush J in Currie v Misa (1875) that consideration is ‘some right, interest, profit or benefit accruing to the one party or some forbearance, detriment loss or responsibility, given, suffered or undertaken by the other’.
