Legal Dictionary of Pakistan
Quick lookup for English, Urdu, and Latin legal terms used in Pakistani jurisprudence.
failure of consideration
A situation in which a contract's basis or inducement ceases to exist or becomes worthless. ( This term, unlike consideration per se, relates not to the formation of a contract but to its performance. See CONSIDERATION. Cf WANT OF CONSIDERATION. "An illustration will help indicate how the term is used. If C promises to build a structure for O and O promises to make payment when the work is completed, it is clear that there is consideration on both sides of this contract and that therefore a contract was formed upon the exchange of promises. If C fails to perform, the result is sometimes described as a 'failure of consideration.' 'Failure of consideration' simply means a failure to perform and as used covers both a material breach of constructive conditions and a failure to perform an express condition. The use of the term 'failure of consideration' in this sense appears to be an unnecessary invitation to confusion because the word consideration is being used in two different senses. Fortunately, the use of this phrase has gradually fallen into disuse. It is, however, still sufficiently widespread to be mentioned here. This volume nowhere utilizes 'failure of consideration' as an operative concept." John D. Calamari & Joseph M. Perillo, The Law of Contracts ยง 11-21, at 474-75 (3d ed. 1987).
partial failure of consideration
A situation in which the contract consists of separable items of consideration and separable parts of the agreement, so that if part of the consideration fails, the appropriate part of the agreement can be apportioned to it. 0 The several parts of the contract are in effect treated as separate contracts, and the contract is voided only to the extent that the consideration for one part fails.
total failure of consideration
A situation in which the contract is indivisible so that a complete lack of consideration voids the contract. "The concept of total failure of consideration is a somewhat technical one. In particular there may be a total failure of consideration even though the defendant has actually done some work or expended some money in the performance of the contract, provided that what he has done has not enured to the benefit of the other party. For example, if a person orders machinery to be specially constructed for him, there will be a total failure of consideration if none of the machinery is delivered to him although work may have been commenced and money expended on it. On the other hand, if some benefit has been received under the contract, no matter how trifling, there is no total failure of consideration. In this case, just as there is generally no right to part payment for part performance, so also there is generally no right to part recovery for partial failure of consideration." P.S. Atiyah, An Introduction to the Law of Contract 306-07 (3d ed. 1981).