CTI Group Inc v Transclear SA
The contract was not frustrated because the sellers bore the risk of supplier failure; the suppliers' refusal to deliver was a matter of choice, not a supervening event making performance impossible or fundamentally different. The sellers had not protected themselves contractually, and the circumstances did not meet the legal threshold for frustration.
- Parties
- Claimant/respondent: CTI Group Inc.; Defendant/appellant: Transclear S. A.
- Jurisdiction
- England and Wales
- Judgment Date
- 22 July 2008
- Procedural Posture
- Civil Appeal / Appeal From High Court (commercial Court) to Court of Appeal
- Outcome
- Appeal dismissed
- Legal Topics
- Frustration of Contract, Sale of Goods, Obligations of Seller, Impossibility of Performance
Case Brief
Summary, issues, holding and outcome
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Parties
CTI Group Inc.
Claimant/respondent
Transclear S. A.
Defendant/appellant
Procedural Posture
Civil Appeal / Appeal From High Court (commercial Court) to Court of Appeal
Legal Issues
- 1 Whether the contract for the sale of cement was frustrated by the inability of the seller's suppliers to deliver due to third-party commercial pressure
- 2 Whether the seller bore the risk of supplier failure in a contract for unascertained goods
Ratio Decidendi
The contract was not frustrated because the sellers bore the risk of supplier failure; the suppliers' refusal to deliver was a matter of choice, not a supervening event making performance impossible or fundamentally different. The sellers had not protected themselves contractually, and the circumstances did not meet the legal threshold for frustration.
Court Disposition
Appeal dismissed
Orders
- The appeal is dismissed.
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