Contracts Breach of Contract Definition

A breach of contract in legal terms is a broken promise to do or not do an act. A breach of contract may be either a single event, occuring at one point in time, or a series of continuing breaches. A legal action for breach of contract is a civil action, and any remedies awarded are designed to place the injured party in the position that party would have been in but for the breach. Remedies for breach of contract are designed to compensate the non-breaching party, not to punish the breaching party. A contract a a legally enforceable promise or set of promises that may have been made either orally or in writing; certain promises, however, involving particular matters must be in writing in order to satisfy the Statute of Frauds, a rule of substantive law, not a rule of evidence, that identifies certain matters which must be evidenced by a written instrument in order to be enforceable by a court.