''Anglo Continental Holidays Ltd. v. Typaldos Lines (London) Ltd.'' is a notable English legal case with a judgement by

Lord Denning Alfred Thompson Denning, Baron Denning, (23 January 1899 – 5 March 1999), was an English barrister and judge. He was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 1923 and became a King's Counsel in 1938. Denning became a judge in 1944 when he w ...

which clarified much of the

common law Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law primarily developed through judicial decisions rather than statutes. Although common law may incorporate certain statutes, it is largely based on prece ...

relating to small print conditions. A trip was advertised for the ''Atlantica'' (with two swimming pools and spacious accommodation) but the line substituted the much smaller ''Angelika''. Tapaldos Lines also shortened a two-day call at

Haifa, Israel Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area in Israel. It is home to t ...

to just eight hours. The line referred to a clause in the passenger contract that indicated, "..steamers, sailing, rates and itineraries are subject to change without prior notice." The court ruled that the substitution was a radical departure from the performance of the contract and granted monetary damages to the plaintiffs. Denning said: "In my opinion a steamship company cannot rely on a clause of this kind so as to alter the substance of the transaction..." The case is still cited in legal opinions regarding injury to commercial reputation. The case is very relevant today where it is often customary and expected that after the act of purchase of a piece of technology the customer will agree to a huge amount of conditions which they assume are fair. If the person receiving the ticket did not see or know that there was any writing on the ticket, he is not bound by the conditions; If he knew there was writing, and knew or believed that the writing contained conditions, then he is bound by the conditions; If he knew there was writing on the ticket, but did not know or believe that the writing contained conditions, nevertheless he would be bound, if the delivering of the ticket to him in such a manner that he could see there was writing upon it, was reasonable notice that the writing contained conditions.

References

{{Reflist Court of Appeal (England and Wales) cases English unfair terms case law Lord Denning cases