Lloyd's Law Reporter
LUPOFRESH LTD V SAPPORO BREWERIES LTD
[2013] EWCA Civ 948, Court of Appeal, Civil Division, Lord Justice Moses, Lord Justice Tomlinson and Lord Justice Floyd, 25 July 2013
Contract - Variation - Applicable law - Rome Convention - Contracts (Applicable Law) Act 1990
A series of contracts had been negotiated under which
Sapporo was to supply Chinese hops to Lupofresh. Some of the contracts had before
being performed been renegotiated to the detriment of Lupofresh in a rising
market for hops. Lupofresh had failed to pay the purchase price under one of
the contracts and Sapporo claimed payment. Lupofresh counterclaimed, saying
that the variations had been entered into under duress or misrepresentation. The
contract terms were very brief, each contract taking the form of a purchase order
on Lupofresh headed letter paper, with its address in Kent, addressed to
Sapporo in Tokyo. The contracts were written in English and contained no
express choice of law. At first instance, Bean J decided that the contracts
were governed by Japanese law.