Repudiation and Cancellation

Abstract

If you have repudiated a contract by making it clear that you do not intend to continue your obligations under it, then the other party to the contract may cancel it under s 7 of the Contractual Remedies Act 1979 (CRA). But what is the case if, instead of cancelling, the other party itself breaches an essential term of the contract? Can you then seek to cancel the contract yourself? The Supreme Court’s answer came in the case ofIngram v Patcroft Properties Ltd [2011] NZSC 49 and is that, like so many things in law, it depends.