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Termination—contractual and common law rights

As commercial lawyers, we are used to being instructed to advise in connection with the formation of a commercial relationship. Even if, like family lawyers drafting pre-nuptial agreements, we anticipate the consequences of the end of the relationship, it is only in more recent economic times that we are being asked more frequently how to break the relationship in the first place.

It is important to remember that rights to terminate a contract may arise at common law (for example, in the event of repudiatory breach) and under the express terms of the contract. Where an agreement is silent as to contract termination, in the event of a dispute, the courts will apply common law principles. To avoid uncertainty, parties often include express contractual clauses which provide for the termination of a contract. In general, contractual rights to terminate are in addition to, and not in substitution for, common law rights. Absent express wording to the contrary, the ordinary assumption is that a contractual right to terminate does not preclude termination at common