Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Illegality definition

What does Illegality mean? In practice, illegality describes the doctrine that courts will not enforce a claim that seeks to profit from, or requires performance of, an unlawful or seriously immoral act. There is no single statutory definition; the rules are largely case-law based and apply across contract, tort, unjust enrichment and trusts. Key features include: - Statutory illegality (contravention of legislation or sanctions). - Common-law/public-policy illegality (ex turpi causa), such as contracts to commit a crime, corruption or agreements contrary to public policy. - Supervening illegality: if performance becomes unlawful after formation, the contract is typically discharged for frustration rather than enforced. Remedies are flexible. Courts may refuse...

Illegality in Civil Claims: Contracts, Restitution and Tort—Patel v Mirza Framework, Ex Turpi and Statutory Illegality, Clean Hands and Pleading (England and Wales)

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Practice notes

scope of this Practice Note

There is no stand-alone civil cause of action labelled ‘illegality’. Nonetheless, questions of illegality may surface within civil proceedings, most often as a defence advanced to resist a claim.

a breach of contract action may attract a defence that the contract’s creation or its performance is, or would be, unlawful
likewise, a restitutionary claim may face a defence founded on the asserted illegality of the underlying transaction

At common law, a useful early touchstone is the maxim ‘ex turpi causa non oritur action’: no right of action arises from illegal or grossly immoral acts. Thus, where the claimant’s own conduct is in some respect illegal or immoral, the point arises as considered by Lord Mansfield in Holman v Johnson: if, on the claimant’s own case or otherwise, the cause of action is shown to spring from an ex turpi cause, or from a breach of a positive law of this country, the court will decline to provide its assistance; it does so on that basis, not to favour the defendant, but because the court will not...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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