Having Your Cake and Eating It? Union Eagle v Golden Achievement Ltd
In Union Eagle Ltd v Golden Achievement Ltd' the Privy Council considered whether equitable relief was available to a purchaser of land who had failed to meet a contractual time stipulation by a mere ten minutes, and whose deposit of 10 per cent of the purchase price had been forfeited. It concluded that equity cannot grant relief from the effect of rescission in the context of an ordinary contract for the sale of land where time was of the essence. Although the refusal of specific performance may be justifiable for commercial policy reasons the refusal to grant relief against forfeiture of the deposit seems unduly harsh, and the stated limitations to the scope of the equitable jurisdiction to grant relief unnecessarily restrictive.