“An exemption clause may take many forms, but all such clauses have one thing in common in that they exempt a party from a liability which he would have borne had it not been for the clause. In some cases an exemption clause merely relieves a party from certain purely contractual obligations, for example, the duties of a seller in a contract of sale regarding the quality and fitness of the goods. In other cases exemption clauses go further and protect the party not merely from contractual liability but even from liability which would otherwise have arisen in tort. For example, a shipping company’s ticket may exempt the company from liability to the passenger for any injuries, however caused. Now if the passenger is injured as a result of the negligence of the company’s employees, that would, in the normal way, give rise to an action in tort for negligence, quite apart from the contract.” P.S. Atiyah, An Introduction to the Law of Contract 167 (3d ed. 1981).
exemption clause
exemption clause. A contractual provision providing that a party will not be liable for damages for which that party would otherwise have ordinarily been liable. Cf. EXCEPTION CLAUSE; EXCULPATORY CLAUSE; INDEMNITY CLAUSE. [Cases: Contracts 114. C.J.S. Contracts § 271.]
