Prof Davies successfully represents Pakistan International Airline Corp in major contract law case

On 18 August 2021, the Supreme Court handed down its long-awaited judgment on economic duress in Times Travel (UK) Limited v Pakistan International Airlines Corp [2021] UKSC 40. 

This is a significant decision on a key topic in contract law. The Supreme Court clarified the elements of economic duress, and recognised that “lawful act economic duress” might, in rare instances, render a contract voidable. However, lawful act duress could not, on any view, be established on the facts of the case, and there was disagreement between the Justices regarding what needs to be shown for a claim for lawful act economic duress to succeed. 

Professor Paul Davies (Professor of Commercial Law at the UCL Faculty of Laws) acted for the successful respondent in the appeal, together with Nigel Jones QC and Tom Bell of Gatehouse Chambers. Professor Davies is a member of Essex Court Chambers, and a summary of the case can also be found on the Essex Court Chambers website. 

His work on duress was cited by Lord Burrows in his judgment, and has also recently been relied upon by the New Zealand Court of Appeal in Dold v Murphy [2020] NZCA 313 [69], [77]-[78], which cited Professor Davies’ inaugural lecture on ‘Bad Bargains’, originally presented at UCL in 2019.