Hillas & Co Ltd V Arcos Ltd

Hillas & Co Ltd V Arcos Ltd

Hillas & Co Ltd v Arcos Ltd UKHL 2 is a landmark House of Lords case on English contract law where the court first began to move away from a strict, literal interpretation of the terms of a contract, and instead interpreted it with a view to preserve the bargain. The Court ruled that judges may imply terms into a contract based on the past dealings of the parties rather than void the agreement.

Lord Wright stated in this case that people who give good consideration can bind themselves to a duty to negotiate in good faith, though this was controversially rejected in the later House of Lords case, Walford v Miles.