Promissory estoppel意思

Promissory estoppel is a legal concept in contract law that means "promise estoppel" or "promise that stops." It is a doctrine that can create a binding contract in situations where there was no intent to create an enforceable agreement, but one party made a promise and the other party reasonably relied on that promise to their detriment.

In other words, promissory estoppel allows a court to enforce a promise even if it does not meet all the elements of a traditional contract, such as consideration or mutual assent, if it would be unjust for the promisor to go back on their word. The reliance by the promisee must be reasonable and the detriment suffered as a result of the reliance must be significant.

The doctrine of promissory estoppel is used to prevent someone from taking advantage of another person's reasonable reliance on their promise. It is a way to ensure fairness and to prevent injustice in situations where one party has acted in good faith but the other party has not fulfilled their promise.