Frost v Micarone

In *Frost v Micarone*, the High Court of Australia considered a dispute concerning the enforceability of a contract for the sale of land. The central issue was whether the contract, which was not in writing, was nevertheless enforceable by reason of part performance. The appellant, Frost, sought to enforce the contract against the respondent, Micarone, who sought to rely on the Statute of Frauds to resist enforcement.

The High Court was required to determine whether the acts relied upon by Frost constituted sufficient part performance to take the oral contract out of the Statute of Frauds. Specifically, the Court had to consider whether these acts were unequivocally referable to a contract for the sale of land, as opposed to some other transaction or relationship between the parties.

The Court held that the acts of part performance must be such that they would not have been undertaken but for the existence of a contract for the sale of land. In this instance, the Court found that the acts relied upon by Frost were not unequivocally referable to such a contract, and therefore, the Statute of Frauds applied to render the oral agreement unenforceable. The appeal was dismissed.