Legal Dictionary of Pakistan

mutual mistake

1. A mistake in which each party misunderstands the other's intent. - Also termed bilateral mistake. 2. A mistake that is shared and relied on by both parties to a contract. ( A court will often revise or nullify a contract based on a mutual mistake about a material term. - Also termed (in sense 2) common mistake. "The term 'common mistake' is more usually, but less grammatically, referred to as 'mutual mistake'. Cheshire and Fifoot on Contract have made a heroic effort to introduce and establish the more correct term, and it does seem to be gaining ground. However, the beginner is warned that the term 'mutual mistake' is nearly always used by the Courts to mean what we here call 'common mistake'." P.S. Atiyah, An Introduction to the Law of Contract 190 n.7 (3d ed. 1981).