Question:medium

Principle: Law never enforces an impossible promise.
Facts: ‘A’ made a promise to ‘B’ to discover treasure by magic.

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Always remember that impossible promises are not legally enforceable as they cannot be performed.
Updated On: Jul 15, 2026
  • Law will enforce the promise.
  • Law will not enforce the promise.
  • Law will enforce the promise only at the option of A.
  • Law will enforce the promise only at the option of B.
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The Correct Option is B

Approach Solution - 1

The test here is simply whether the promised act is actually capable of being performed in reality.

  1. Law will enforce it: Wrong, this contradicts the flat rule against enforcing impossible promises.
  2. Law will not enforce it: Discovering treasure by magic is not a real, performable act, so it is impossible in the sense the principle uses, and the promise cannot be enforced.
  3. Enforced only at A's option: The principle allows no such choice; impossibility bars enforcement outright, for either party.
  4. Enforced only at B's option: Same problem, no such discretion exists once the act is impossible.

The correct answer is Law will not enforce the promise.

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Approach Solution -2

Testing each option by assumption.

  1. Law will enforce the promise: Assume true, then discovering treasure by magic would have to be a performable act. No recognised method exists for finding treasure through magic, so the assumption has no real-world act to rest on.
  2. Law will not enforce the promise: Assume true, then the promised act must be impossible, and the principle's bar must be absolute. Both hold, magic is not a real method of finding anything, and the principle states its rule without carving out any exception.
  3. Enforced only at A's option: Assume true, then the principle would need to say the bar applies unless the promisor chooses otherwise. The wording contains no such conditional language, it simply states law never enforces an impossible promise, so the assumption invents wording that isn't there.
  4. Enforced only at B's option: Assume true, then similarly the principle would need to hand B a discretion it never mentions. The same absence of conditional language defeats this assumption too.

Only the assumption of non-enforcement survives, since the act is impossible and the principle's bar applies without any party being able to opt around it.

Therefore, the correct answer is Law will not enforce the promise.

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