11.4.1 Introduction

A large portion of the research concerns the defences an obligee can employ against a claim for specific performance. After all, a legal claim by the obligor for specific performance ceases the moment the obligee successfully raises a defence against the claim. Therefore, the third sub-question posed is: Which defences can the obligee raise to defend him or herself against a claim for specific performance?

This sub-question has been answered in Chapters 4 to 7. The statements upon which the obligee can rely as a defence to a claim for specific performance are as follows: the personal character of the contractual relationship (Chapter 4), force majeure (Chapter 5), the disproportionate disadvantage of specific performance, also known as relative impossibility (Chapter 6) and the partial or temporary impossibility of specific performance (Chapter 7). These chapters have also focused on the question of whether the boundaries of these defences with respect to the right to specific performance should be clarified, extended or restricted.