In an age where time is of the essence and personal schedules are tightly packed, the reliability of transportation services is paramount. Late departures by trains, buses, flights, and other means of transportation have become a common concern for consumers around the world. The rights of consumers when faced with tardy departures are not to be taken lightly.

Woolley v Fonterra Co-Operative Group Ltd: The Exercise of Contractual Discretion‍On 29 June 2023, the New Zealand Court of Appeal delivered its judgment in the case of Woolley v Fonterra Co-Operative Group Ltd [2023] NZCA 266. In its judgment, the Court considered the approach to the exercise of contractual discretion in New Zealand, including the test adopted by the United Kingdom Supreme Court in Braganza v BP Shipping Ltd [2015] UKSC 17, [2015] 1 WLR 1661. A summary of the key facts of the matter and important points in the Court's decision follow.

Awards of costs in civil proceedings are at the court’s discretion. The general costs rule is simple: the unsuccessful party is required to pay costs to the successful party. The award of costs is normally made on a 'scale' basis – the scale comprising certain daily rates and certain time allocations for certain steps in a proceeding, both prescribed in schedules to the courts publishes rules of procedures. This, in practice, means that a party to a proceeding will always incur irrecoverable costs to some extent. Much less frequently, awards of costs are made on an indemnity basis, so the unsuccessful party must pay the actual legal costs incurred by the successful party.

If the purchaser discovers a defect with the property or breach of the sale and purchase agreement by the vendor just days before settlement is due, what can the purchaser and vendor do in that situation? Can the vendor force settlement? Should the purchaser be allowed to claim a reduction in the purchase price? The claim for compensation provisions were designed to achieve both objectives, requiring settlement to occur subject to some adjustment of the purchase price payable on settlement.

Many in the construction industry will be feeling frustrated at the latest lockdown slowing down projects and progress. Fortunately, not everything has to be put on pause. The Construction Contracts Act 2002 ("CCA") provides ways to recover money during lockdown.