When faced with a breach or a potential breach of contract, one of the central issues will be what remedies are available to the innocent party.
The Practice Notes in this sub-topic consider the key remedies available, ie:
damages for breach of contract and the limits to recovery, and
the equitable remedies such as specific performance, declaratory and injunctive relief, rectification and rescission
as well as some of the issues relevant to a finding on liability. They also include some practical illustrations of pursuing certain types of contractual claim.
Clearly, before there can be a situation requiring remedies for a breach of contract, there needs to have been a contract in existence at some point. This subtopic proceeds on the basis that a binding agreement has already been entered into between the parties and then breached or that a dispute has arisen in relation to performance. It therefore does not deal with the issues of formation, interpretation or termination of contracts. For guidance on these topics, see:
Forming enforceable contracts—overview
Contract interpretation—overview
Terminating contracts—how and when a contract ends—overview (which
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