Deceit - The Lie of the Law

4 EXAMPLES OF REPRESENTATIONS INTRODUCTION 4.1 The action in deceit is remarkable in that its viability does not depend on an otherwise subsisting or pending legal relationship, unlike for example a claim in contract or negligence. Furthermore, the claim for deceit may be made as between parties to a contract allegedly induced by the fraudulent misrepresentation or as between a contracting party and a third party or as between parties neither of whom are parties to a contract. In fact, in the 200 years since the decision in Pasley v. Freeman , 1 which confirmed the availablity of the cause of action to non-contracting parties, almost 30 per cent of claims for deceit have been made between parties who have not contracted with each other on the faith of the misrepresentation, 2 although a small proportion were cases where the alleged fraud was perpetrated in the course of one party’s performance of an already existing contract. 3 The circumstances surrounding the allegations and findings of fraud are extremely wide, extending to the domestic, commercial, spiritual 4 and public 5 spheres of life. The examples are various. 6