What is acquiescence in contract law?
Asked by: Loraine Hintz | Last update: January 31, 2026Score: 5/5 (73 votes)
The doctrine of acquiescence in contract law means a party passively accepts or consents to a change, breach, or another's use of their rights through silence or inaction over time, rather than an explicit agreement, preventing them from later enforcing their original rights due to this implied permission, especially when the other party relies on that silence to their detriment, acting like a form of equitable estoppel. It essentially stops someone from claiming a breach when they've "slept on their rights" and allowed the situation to continue, often seen in intellectual property or boundary disputes.
What is acquiescence in law in simple words?
In law, acquiescence occurs when a person knowingly stands by, without raising any objection to, the infringement of their rights, while someone else unknowingly and without malice aforethought acts in a manner inconsistent with their rights.
What is the doctrine of acquiescence in contract law?
Acquiescence is an affirmative defense that states that a party approved of a contract change either expressly or impliedly due to their actions or inactions. Acquiescence is often asserted as an affirmative defense in breach of contract cases.
What does acquiescence mean in simple terms?
Definition & meaning
Acquiescence refers to a situation where a person gives implied consent to an action or decision without explicitly agreeing to it. This can manifest as a passive acceptance or agreement, often indicated by a lack of protest or objection.
How is acquiescence used in law?
Acquiescence is usually shown through the conduct of the property owners over time. For example, if one property owner knows that the adjoining property owner treats a fence as the boundary and does nothing to object or correct it for at least ten years, the law may view that silence as agreement.
What is an Acquiescence
How to prove acquiescence?
Identifying Evidence of Acquiescence
To establish the boundary by acquiescence, it's imperative to pinpoint and present compelling evidence. This often includes a combination of physical signs, historical actions, and legal documentation to support the existence of a recognized property boundary.
What are some examples of acquiescence?
the act of accepting or agreeing to something, often unwillingly: acquiescence in Even though you didn't originate it, your acquiescence in a policy that you knew was wrong makes you partly complicit in the harm it caused. acquiescence to I was surprised by her acquiescence to the plan. She nodded her acquiescence.
How is acquiescence different from agreement?
Acquiescence is a silent or passive assent or submission. Agreement is an understanding between entities to follow a specific course of conduct.
How can you avoid acquiescence?
5 ways to avoid acquiescence bias in your survey
- Reformulate the question. ...
- Introduce measures to help the participant's focus. ...
- Plan your survey participant group to include the right survey participants. ...
- Be sensitive in your role as the researcher. ...
- Reduce anxiety about the survey with transparency.
What is the difference between consent and acquiescence?
“To consent” is to agree to something, such as the removal of children from their habitual residence. “To acquiesce” is to agree tacitly, silently, or passively to something such as the children remaining in a jurisdiction which is not their habitual residence. Thus, acquiescence implies unstated consent.
What are the three types of estoppel?
by representation of fact, where one person asserts the truth of a set of facts to another; promissory estoppel, where one person makes a promise to another, but there is no enforceable contract; and. proprietary estoppel, where the parties are litigating the title to land.
What is the equitable defense of acquiescence?
The equitable defense of acquiescence, which rests upon the equitable doctrine of election, is available to a trustee if a beneficiary, fully apprised of all the relevant facts and law, of full age and legal capacity, and under no undue influence, “stands by” and in so doing induces the trustee to believe that the ...
What's the difference between agreeing and acquiescing?
In seeking to avoid conflict and confrontation, a persuasive person may push his or her partner to acquiesce or give in to a certain point of view, but this doesn't mean that the partner agrees. It may mean only that the partner actually doesn't want to fight and so appears to agree.
What is the opposite of acquiescence?
Antonyms. disagreement dissent refusal. STRONG. denial fight nonconformity resistance veto.
What is Section 37 of the Indian contract Act?
The parties to a contract must either perform, or offer to perform, their respective promises, unless such performance is dispensed with or excused under the provisions of this Act, or of any other law.
What is acquiesce in CPC?
Acquiescence to the claim, provided for in article 408 of the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC), is the act of the defendant who acknowledges the validity of the adversary's claims before a judgment is handed down.
What is passive acquiescence in law?
Acquiescence essentially means that you passively consent to some other person using your registered trademark despite having the knowledge that someone else is using your trademark. So once this “passive consent” crosses its 5 year statutory limit, you then cannot sue for infringement because you've lost your chance.
When people are using an acquiescent response set, they are?
Acquiescence response bias is the tendency for survey respondents to agree with statements regardless of their content. Acquiescence response bias could influence any question in which the response options involve confirming a statement, but it may be particularly problematic with agree-disagree questions.
What is agreement bias?
Acquiescence bias, also known as agreement bias, is a category of response bias common to survey research in which respondents have a tendency to select a positive response option or indicate a positive connotation disproportionately more frequently.
What are the 4 types of consent?
While there are many classifications, four common types of consent are Expressed (or Explicit), Implied, Informed, and Withdrawable, representing direct verbal/written permission, actions suggesting agreement, permission after understanding details, and the right to revoke consent, respectively, all crucial in medical, legal, and personal contexts.
What is Section 27 of the Indian contract Act?
According to Section 27: “Any agreement that prohibits someone from engaging in any type of lawful trade, business, or profession is, to that extent, null and void.” Except in appropriate and justifiable situations, the clause guarantees the preservation of a person's right to a living and their freedom to work.
What is an acquiescence ruling?
What are Acquiescence Rulings (ARs)? ARs explain how SSA will apply a holdinga court ruling, esp. a ruling on a point of law raised in an official proceeding by a United States Court of Appeals that is at variance with our national policies for adjudicating claims.
What is the legal principle of acquiescence?
The doctrine of acquiescence is known in some jurisdiction as a consentable boundary. Some states have equated it to a boundary by implied agreement. The motivation for a court recognizing a boundary different from the record is to let boundaries that appear to have been settled to be settled.
What is acquiescence in simple words?
Acquiescence is an agreement, usually a willingness to go along with what someone else suggests.
What is the defense of acquiescence?
They note that in general, an acquiescence defense requires that a defendant satisfy three elements: (1) it received assurances from the plaintiff that the defendant could use the mark; (2) it relied on such assurances; and (3) it would experience undue prejudice if it now had to cease use of the mark.