Irish Life Assurance Company Ltd v Dublin Land Securities Ltd

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Judgment Date: 26 July 1989
• Date: 26 July 1989
• Docket Number: [S.C. No. 193 of 1986]
• Court: Supreme Court

(S.C.)

Irish Life Assurance Co. Ltd

and

Dublin Land Securities Ltd

- Rectification - Contract for sale of ground rents - Alleged term not embodied in contract - Notice to purchaser's agent - Whether common intention to include term - Whether mutual mistake - Onus of proof.

The appellant company owned a substantial portfolio of ground rents. It also owned certain lands at Palmerstown, County Dublin, the subject of compulsory purchase orders of the County Council and Corporation of Dublin, together with other adjoining lands the acquisition of which had been agreed with the local authorities. W., an auctioneer, communicated to the appellant an offer from F., a property developer, to buy the portfolio which offer the appellant accepted and a contract for sale was drawn up. The respondent company was formed by F. to take the conveyance of the ground rents. The appellant had no intention of including the Palmerstown properties in the sale to F., but the appellant's legal department, due to an oversight, included all but a portion of the Palmerstown properties in the portfolio. The appellant's property manager, prior to the execution of the contract...