Impossible - Law Dictionary Search Results
Home Dictionary Name: impossibleimpossibility
impossibility pl: -ties 1 : the quality or state of being impossible ;also : the affirmative defense that something (as performance) is impossible 2 : something impossible 3 : impossibility of performance in this entry fac·tu·al impossibility : impossibility based on factual circumstances ;specif : a partial defense to criminal liability based on the incompletion of an intended criminal act NOTE: Factual impossibility is not a complete defense and does allow prosecution for attempt or for another inchoate offense. For example, if the defendant constructed a bomb that failed to explode, factual impossibility would be a defense against murder charges, but not attempted murder. impossibility of per·for·mance 1 : a doctrine in contract law that a party may be released from liability for breach of contract for failing to perform an obligation that is rendered impossible by uncontrollable circumstances (as death or failure of the means of delivery) 2 : a defe...
Impossibility
Impossibility. If a man contract to do a thing which is absolutely impossible by its nature, such contract will not bind him--lex non cogit ad impossibilia, e.g., where the subject-matter has perished before date of contract, or never existed [see (English) Sale of Goods Act, 1893, s. 6; and Conturier v. Hastie, (1852) 8 Ex 43 & HLC 673]; but where the contract operating as a transfer of real property, e.g., as a demise, is to do a thing which is possible in itself, but which becomes impossible, he will be liable for the breach; thus, where a lessee covenants to repair and to leave in repair the demised premises he is not discharged from his liability because they happen to be destroyed [see Bullock v. Dommitt, (1796) 6 TR 650]; or requisitioned by the military, Whitehall Court Ltd. v. Etlinger, (1920) 1 KB 680.The non-performance of a contract which arises from an act of the law having rendered performance impossible is excused, see Baily v. De Crespigny, (1869) LR 4 QB 180; Re Shipto...
Impossible
Impossible, The word 'impossible' has not been used here in the sense of physical or literal impossibility. The performance of an act may not be literally impossible but it may be impracticable and useless from the point of view of the object and purpose which the parties had in view; and if an untoward event or change of circumstances totally upsets the very foundation upon which the parties rested their bargain, it can very well be said that the promisor finds it impossible to do the act which he promised to do, Satyabrata Ghose v. Mugneeram Bangur, AIR 1954 SC 44 (46). (Contract Act, 1872, s. 56)Means in the language of everyday life a thing is impossible when according to the ordinary course of human events, no expectation can be entertained that it will happen, Shephard v. Kottgen, (1877) 47 LJQB 67....
Impossible or impermissible
Impossible or impermissible, In Words and Phrases (Permanent Edn., Vol. 20, pp. 460-61) it is stated that the term 'impossible' may sometimes be synonymous with 'impracticable'; 'impractic-able' means 'not practicable', incapable of being performed or accomplished by the means employed or at command; 'impracticable' is defined as incapable of being effected from lack of adequate means, impossible of performance, not feasible; 'impracticable' means impossible or un-reasonably difficult of performance, and is a much stronger term than 'expedient'. In The Law Lexicon (P. Ramanatha Aiyar, 2nd Edn., p. 889) one of the meanings assigned to impracticable is ''not possible' or 'not feasible'; at any rate it means something very much more than 'not reasonably practicable''. In the New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998, at p. 918), impracticable (of a course of action) is defined to mean 'impossible in practise to do or carry out'. The same dictionary states the usage of the term in these words...
factual impossibility
factual impossibility see impossibility ...
impossibility of performance
impossibility of performance see impossibility ...
legal impossibility
legal impossibility see impossibility ...
Lex non intendit aliquid impossible
Lex non intendit aliquid impossible [Lat.], the law intends not anything impossible....
impossible
impossible : not possible : incapable of being done, attained, or fulfilled [a party's performance is in part] ...
Impossibility
The quality of being impossible impracticability...
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