Amadio Case

970 Words2 Pages

Background to Commercial Bank of Australia Ltd v Amadio (1983) 151 CLR 447 The Amadio case is about two elderly migrants, Mr and Mrs Amadio, who were asked to execute a mortgage from the bank by their son Vincenzo Amadio, the purpose being to secure the overdraft of a company which their son owned. Mr and Mrs Amadio agreed to the terms as offered by the bank, believing that the mortgage was to be limited to $50,000 and for six months, however this was not the case. The bank was well aware that Mr and Mrs Amadio had been misinformed regarding the mortgage which they were executing for their son. Soon after, Vincenzo’s company began to deteriorate, and the bank demanded payment from the Amadio’s on the guarantee. When the bank did not receive …show more content…

In this instance, the Amadio’s were seen as being at a ‘special disadvantage’ primarily due to their age, they could not comprehend the English language well and also because of their lack of experience in such matters. The court labelled the banks conduct as unconscionable because of the advantage which was taken of Mr and Mrs Amadio while they were at a special disadvantage and that they were given false information by their son which made them extremely vulnerable. Had Mr Virgo disclosed all information to the Amadio’s, especially when Mr Amadio made the statement which suggested he was not properly informed of the terms of the mortgage, and the Amadio’s understood everything, they would not have been able to take to court the Commercial Bank of Australia on the grounds of unconscionable conduct. The fact that their ‘special disadvantage’ was exploited gave passage for them to receive equitable relief for unconscionable …show more content…

Mr Kakavas’ claim that Crown casino and its employees acted unconscionably was dismissed on the grounds that, unlike Mr and Mrs Amadio in their dispute against the Commercial Bank of Australia, Mr Kakavas suffered from no ‘special advantage’ from which he could have been exploited. Mr Kakavas argued that he had a pathological gambling condition and that the casino knew of this and yet lured him into rampantly spending money, and this meant that he should have been entitled to compensation. Mr Kakavas’ professionally diagnosed pathological gambling addiction was deemed not to have affected his ability to make his own decisions, and that he, at any time could have stopped. In the Amadio case, Mr Virgo became aware that perhaps Mr Amadio did not completely understand the terms of the contract of the mortgage he was executing, and therefore it could be concluded that Mr Virgo on behalf of the bank acted unconsciously. However, in this instance there was no evidence to suggest that Crown was aware of Mr Kakavas’ gambling problem, and that through the use of this knowledge Mr Kakavas was

Open Document