Legal Definition and Related Resources of Mistake

A misapprehension as to the existence of a thing arising either from ignorance or from a false belief on the point . As applied to contracts, a mistake can be one of law or of fact. A mistake of law is an erroneous opinion as to what the law is on a point and generally is not a ground for granting relief. See Bank of U.S. v Daniel, 12 Pet. (U.S.) 32, 9 L.Ed. 989. However, where a mistaken opinion of the law is formed as a result of misrepresentation or deceit , the court will grant relief against the offending party . Reggio v warren , 207 Mass. 525, 93 N.E. 805. A mistake of fact is a mistake not caused by the neglect of legal duty on the part of the person making the mistake, but consists in an ignorance of a fact past or present , material to the transaction . May also consist of a belief in the present existence of a thing material to the transaction which does not exist , or in the past existence of a thing which has not existed. Such a mistake negates consensus ad idem in the contract , an essential element of the same. The court will grant relief against such a mistake. But in order to entitle a party to relief, the mistake of facts must relate to a material fact which f.r.s. the basis or essence of the agreement . See Grvmes v Sanders, 93 U.S. 55,23 L.Ed. 798. Mistake can be either unilateral or mutual . It is unilateral where there has been no consensus ad idem, that is to say, where each party is proceeding under a different apprehension of the facts. Mutual where both parties have contracted in the mistaken belief that some fact which is material to the contract is true.

An erroneous conception, conviction, or belief in respect to matter of either fact or law, arising from ignorance, surprise, imposition, or misplaced confidence. See Story, Eq. Jur. § 110. 159 Iowa 529. That result of ignorance of law or fact which has misled a person to commit that which, if he had not been in error, he would not have done. Jeremy, Eq. Jur. bk. 2, pt. 2, p. 358. An erroneous mental condition, conception, or conviction induced by a misapprehension of the truth, without which the act complained of would not have taken place. 159 Iowa 529. Distinction between “mistake” and “ignorance,” see “Ignorance.”

verb

• be deceived
• be erroneous
• be in the wrong
• be misguided
• be misled
• be mistaken
• blunder
• bungle
• commit an error
• confuse
• err
• fall into error
• get wrong
• go amiss
• go astray
• go wrong
• identify incorrectly
• ignorare
• labor under a misapprehension
• misapprehend
• miscalculate
• misconceive
• misconstrue
• misidentify
• misinterpret
• misjudge
• misread
• misunderstand
• name inaccurately
• put a false sense on
• receive a false impression
• receive a wrong impression
• slip up
• stumble
• Associated Concepts: excusable mistake
• harmless error
• mistake of fact
• mistake of law
• mistaken identity
• mutual mistake
• unilateral mistake

Browse or run a search for Mistake in the American Encyclopedia of Law, the Asian Encyclopedia of Law, the European Encyclopedia of Law, the UK Encyclopedia of Law or the Latin American and Spanish Encyclopedia of Law.

Mistake in Historical Law

You might be interested in the historical meaning of this term. Browse or search for Mistake in Historical Law in the Encyclopedia of Law.

Search for legal acronyms and/or abbreviations containing Mistake in the Legal Abbreviations and Acronyms Dictionary.

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Notice

This definition of Mistake is based on the The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary . This entry needs to be proofread.

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Resources

See Also

Law Dictionaries.

Attempt; Excuse: Theory; Mens Rea; Strict Liability.

ACCEPTABILITY, BAD ENGLISH, BARBARISM, CATACHRESIS, CORRECT, DEVIANT, FREUDIAN SLIP, GRAMMATICALITY, LITERAL, MALAPROPISM, MISPRONUNCIATION, PLEONASM, SOLECISM, SPOONERISM, TAUTOLOGY.

Further Reading

Alexander, Larry. “Inculpatory and Exculpatory Mistakes and the Fact/Law Distinction: An Essay in Memory of Myke Bayles.” Law and Philosophy 12 (1993): 33-70.

American Law Institute. Model Penal Code: Proposed Official Draft. Philadelphia: ALI, 1962.

Bayles, Myke. Principles of Law: A Normative Analysis. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1987.

Dressler, Joshua. Understanding Criminal Law. 2d ed. New York: Matthew Bender/Irwin, 1995.

Husak, Douglas, and von Hirsch, Andrew. “Culpability and Mistake of Law.” In Action and Value in Criminal Law. Edited by Stephen Shute, John Gardner, and Jeremy Horder. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993, Pages 157-174.

Kadish, Sanford H., and Schulhofer, Stephen J. Criminal Law and Its Processes. Boston: Little, Brown, 1995.

Note. “Element Analysis in Defining Criminal Liability.” Stanford Law Review 35, no. 4 (1983): 681-762.

Simons, Kenneth W. “Mistake and Impossibility, Law and Fact, and Culpability: A Speculative Essay.” Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology 81 (1990): 447-517.

Wharton, Francis. Criminal Law. 12th ed. Rochester, N.Y.: Lawyer’s Co-operative, 1932.

Mistake in Law Enforcement

Main Entry: Law Enforcement in the Legal Dictionary. This section provides, in the context of Law Enforcement, a partial definition of mistake.

Resources

See Also

• Law Enforcement Officer
• Police
• Law Enforcement Agency

Further Reading

• mistake in A Dictionary of Law Enforcement (Oxford University Press)
• mistake in the Encyclopedia of Law Enforcement
• A Treatise on the Police of the Metropolis

Concept of Mistake in the context of Real Property

A short definition of Mistake: An unintentional, non-negligent error or misunderstanding. A mistake may be of the facts (mistake of fact) or their legal effect (mistake of law).

Concept of Mistake in the context of Real Property

A short definition of Mistake: An unintentional, non-negligent error or misunderstanding. A mistake may be of the facts (mistake of fact) or their legal effect (mistake of law).

Mistake