... to see what criteria judges use to determine what they believe to be the intentions of contractors. English Law has historically viewed consideration and form as being separate and distinct from other doctrines in identifying enforceable contracts2. Since the repeal in 1954 of most of the provisions of the Statute of Frauds3, requirements of form have been less significant except in certain classes of contract, the principal function of validation being performed by the doctrine of consideration. However, because this doctrine could theoretically be applied to legally enforce social exchanges it was tempered by a subsidiary rule requiring a clear intention to be established. Collins4 points out that the yardstick of intention is thus a rule created by default, and as such by implication imperfect. Remedial by nature rather than intrinsic, he saw it as a product of a slowly evolving common law system, which in growing with all its imperfections, ...

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