Section 179 — Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992: Whether agreement intended to be a legally enforceable contract.

Whether agreement intended to be a legally enforceable contract. 179 1 A collective agreement shall be conclusively presumed not to have been intended by the parties to be a legally enforceable contract unless the agreement—

a is in writing, and b contains a provision which (however expressed) states that the parties intend that the agreement shall be a legally enforceable contract.

2 A collective agreement which does satisfy those conditions shall be conclusively presumed to have been intended by the parties to be a legally enforceable contract.

3 If a collective agreement is in writing and contains a provision which (however expressed) states that the parties intend that one or more parts of the agreement specified in that provision, but not the whole of the agreement, shall be a legally enforceable contract, then—

a the specified part or parts shall be conclusively presumed to have been intended by the parties to be a legally enforceable contract, and b the remainder of the agreement shall be conclusively presumed not to have been intended by the parties to be such a contract.

4 A part of a collective agreement which by virtue of subsection (3)(b) is not a legally enforceable contract may be referred to for the purpose of interpreting a party of the agreement which is such a contract.