Contracts in restraint of trade

The term contract can be defined simply as a written or spoken agreement between two or more parties, intended to be enforced by law. Both parties are free to negotiate and draw the frames of their contracts. However this freedom is not unlimited. In certain circumstances a contract may fall into the "illegal contracts" category and for this reason become unenforceable. Herein arise two questions: Firstly, how far can the negotiators go in determining their …

…are with respect to the common law. However, there is a tendency, following the EU policy, these rules to be incorporated in the form of statutory provisions. In conclusion it must be stated that using the criteria, which define a restraint of trade contract as enforceable or not, is a complicated process. The specific facts of every particular case require a different combination of criteria. Therefore there is no universal formula applied by the courts.