For anyone interested in private law in general, and commercial endeavours in particular, the penalties jurisdiction is inherently fascinating. This is the jurisdiction which entitles courts to review an agreed contractual term and declare it void if it is a penalty. In the UK at least, a clause is a penalty if, in substance, it imposes consequences for breach of contract that are extravagant, exorbitant, unconscionable or out of all proportion to any legitimate interest of the innocent party in performance of the contract. It is irrelevant that the parties have fully agreed to the term, or that its inclusion has been priced into the contract.