Lack of Informed Consent
Some acts cannot legally take place because of a lack of informed consent. This can occur under conditions of pressures of limited time, money, exhaustion and exhortations to settle from lawyers. Another person is generally authorised to give consent if an individual is unable to. These cases sometimes result in a party refusing to comply with the terms of the contract; however, they are rarely successful as a defense to an enforcement action. Judges usually take the view that a client advised by a lawyer is strongly presumed both to have a basic understanding of legal principle, and to have given consent (Informed Consent 2007). This was the case in Gerbert and Gerbert (1990) FLC 92-137, where a husband settled for 10% of assets against his probable entitlement to 40%, and it was held that there was no miscarriage of justice as the husband acted feely and was advised to seek legal advice. In cases where an individual is provided limited facts, serious ethical issues may arise.
Is it ethical to hold someone to a contract when they clearly had no awareness of exactly what they were signing and committing themselves to, due to ignorance or not? Is it ethical for a lawyer to encourage the signing of a document if they are clearly not fully understanding of the document?
Read more about this topic: Ethical Implications In Contracts
Famous quotes containing the words lack of, lack, informed and/or consent:
“what evil is: not as we thought
Deeds that must be punished, but our lack of faith,
Our dishonest mood of denial,
The concupiscence of the oppressor.”
—W.H. (Wystan Hugh)
“It seems that the fiction writer has a revolting attachment to the poor, for even when he writes about the rich, he is more concerned with what they lack than with what they have.”
—Flannery O’Connor (1925–1964)
“It is a great mistake to suppose that clever, imaginative children ... should content themselves with the empty nonsense which is so often set before them under the name of Children’s Tales. They want something much better; and it is surprising how much they see and appreciate which escapes a good, honest, well- informed papa.”
—E.T.A.W. (Ernst Theodor Amadeus Wilhelm)
“It is possible that the contemplation of cruelty will not make us humane but cruel; that the reiteration of the badness of our spiritual condition will make us consent to it.”
—Lionel Trilling (1905–1975)