BRINKBON LTD v STAHAG STAHL UND STAHLWARENHANDEL G

'No universal rule can cover such cases.....' - Acceptance in the electronic world

A telex acceptance was sent from London to Vienna. The English company could commence a claim for breach of contract against the Austrian company only if the contract was made in England.

Held: Approving Entores v Miles Far East , the contract in question had been concluded where the telex acceptance had been received: in Vienna.

LORD FRASER: I have reached the opinion that, on balance, an acceptance sent by telex directly from the acceptor's office to the offeror's office should be treated as if it were an instantaneous communication between principals, like a telephone conversation.

One reason is that the decision to that effect in Entores v Miles Far East Corporation [1955] 2 QB 327 seems to have worked without leading to serious difficulty or complaint from the business community. Secondly, once the message has been received on the offeror's telex machine, it is not unreasonable to treat it as delivered to the principal offeror, because it is his responsibility to arrange for prompt handling of messages within his own office. Thirdly, a party (the acceptor) who…