Legal Definitions - countermand

Countermand (verb)

To countermand means to issue a new order or instruction that effectively cancels, revokes, or overrides a previous one.

Countermand (noun)

A countermand is the subsequent order or action that serves to cancel or reverse a prior directive or command.

Here are some examples to illustrate the concept of a countermand:

• Imagine a business owner who instructs their bank to transfer a large sum of money to a vendor. Shortly after, they discover an error in the invoice and immediately call the bank to stop the transfer before it is completed. The owner's second instruction to halt the transfer effectively countermands the initial instruction to send the money.

• Consider a construction project manager who tells a crew to begin work on a specific section of a building. Later that day, due to a change in engineering plans, the manager issues a new directive telling the crew to pause work on that section and move to a different area instead. The second directive to change locations and tasks serves as a countermand to the original instruction.

• A customer places an online order for a custom-made product. A few hours later, they realize they selected the wrong color and quickly contact the company's customer service to change the color choice before production begins. The customer's request to alter the color countermands their initial selection in the original order.