(MYS) VOID AND VOIDABLE

“… where the contract turns out to be valid but void ?”

That’s an impossible combination! Another word / synonym for void is “invalid” so your question is asking about a contract that is valid and invalid … and that, I’m sorry to say, is not possible

Can you recover goods / money where what once appeared to be a valid contract is subsequently shown to be invalid? That depends on the cause of the invalidity and the knowledge of the ‘innocent’ party

If I pay you money to murder my ex-wife, and you don’t, can I now recover my money? If you refuse to repay the money, what can I do? Sue you in Court?

If I incur costs in arranging for the transportation of goods from a neighbouring state and then, after I have paid, war breaks out between my home state and the neighbouring state, can I recover the money that I have paid? To continue with the contract would be classed as trading with the enemy and thus would be declared to be a void contract

This would fall into the category of Frustrated Contracts and is covered by the 1943 (?) Frustrated Contracts Act where money to be paid now ceases to be paid, and money already paid is refundable subject to the deduction of reasonable expenses

So, in the context of an originally valid contract being affected by subsequent events, the Frustrated Contract legislation would seem to cover those situations whereas, in the context of a ‘contract’ for an illegal purpose that is ‘void ab initio’ (from the very start), neither party can acquire any rights under such an arrangement

Having said that, it is possible that the Courts may look at the particular circumstances and if there is one party less ‘wrong’ than the other, the Court may choose to allocate blame according to the extent of wrongness of the two miscreants

As for recoverability in a voidable situation, that again depends upon who you are. For example, if you are the innocent ‘victim’ of some misrepresentation (so the victim of a contract that is now classed as voidable (at the option of the innocent party)) then, yes, you may choose to treat the contract as ended and ask to recover the value that you have been induced into paying / giving.

It may be necessary to seek redress through Court action

If, on the other hand, you are the party that induced the other into a contract as a result of your misleading representations that have now been shown to be false, then you will potentially be on the wrong end of a Court order requiring you to repay the value that you had received – the concept of rescission / restitution

Better?