Cases - Hick v Raymond & Reid

Record details

Name

Hick v Raymond & Reid

Date

(1893)

Citation

(1893) AC 22

Keywords

Construction claim - time for performance - no date in contract - reasonable time - definition of reasonable time - reasonable time for unloading cargo - delay without fault

Summary

This dispute concerned the shipment of a cargo of grain to London under bills of lading which contained no date for when the consignees were to take discharge of the grain. Such discharge was in fact delayed by a dockers' strike. In finding that the consignees were not liable to the shipowner for delay, the House of Lords confirmed that in the absence of a specified date in the contract, the time for performance is within a reasonable time. Lord Herschell L.C. elaborated on this position as follows:

'The only sound principle is that the "reasonable time" should depend upon the circumstances which actually exist ... when I say the circumstances which actually exist, I of course imply that those circumstances, insofar as they involve delay, have not been caused or contributed to by the consignee.'