Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

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...

UK Supreme Court 2016: key rulings on deceit, insurance fraud, illegality in unjust enrichment, malicious prosecution of civil claims, and vicarious liability

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Practice notes

ARCHIVED: this Practice Note is not maintained and is provided for background reference only. In addition, some links may not take you to the provisions as they stood when the guidance in this Practice Note was published.

A varied slate of Supreme Court rulings in 2016—what should you know?

Throughout 2016 there were notable decisions across multiple areas, with clear divisions among our most senior judges frequently on display. In this overview of 2016, we look at:

rescinding a settlement on the basis of deceit (Hayward v Zurich) (see below)
fraudulent presentation in insurance claims (Versloot v HDI) (see below)
unjust enrichment claims affected by Illegality (Patel v Mirza) (see below)
malicious prosecution in civil proceedings (Willers v Joyce) (see below)
the ‘close connection’ test for Vicarious liability (Mohamud v WM Morrison) (see below)

Setting aside settlement agreement for deceit (Hayward v Zurich)

In Hayward v Zurich, the Supreme Court was asked to Set aside a settlement agreement where the insurers had agreed to settle despite being aware that the claimant had overstated the extent of his...

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Web page updated on 22/05/2026

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