Vitiating Elements Of A Contract by Ukpono Etuk

The parties to a contract must have agreed to the terms of their contract. It must indeed be very clear that they have agreed freely, without some form of compulsion or some other defect which may make the apparently valid contract defective.
Where there is such an element which may spoil or make such contract defective, such an element is known as a vitiating element.
  Vitiating factors is the technical term for the things which make a contract void or voidable. Vitiating factors in a contract are those factors the existence of ( any of ) which will cripple or invalidate the contract. The vitiating elements to be considered are mistake, misrepresentation, duress, undue influence and illegality. The nature of the vitiating element determines the kind of defect the contract may have, the contract may not be enforceable at all, it may be enforceable in certain ways or manners, or there may be no contract at all.

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