Law of Contract
A contract intends to formalize an agreement of two or more parties, in relation to a particular subject. Contracts can cover an extremely broad range of matters including the sale of goods or real property, the terms of employment or of an independent contractor relationship, the settlement of a dispute and ownership of intellectual property developed as part of work for hire.
Essential Elements of a Contract * Clear certain and communicated agreement. Meaning that the parties are consensus ad idem or are of the same mind. The parties to the contract have mutual understanding of what the contract covers, eg. In a contract for the sale of a ‘mustang’ the buyer thinks that he will obtain a car and the seller believes he is contracting to sell a horse, there is no meeting of the minds and the contract will likely be held unenforceable.
Offer and Acceptance
Agreement = offer + acceptance
Requirements of a valid offer * Offer must be definite. It must not:
* Leave aspects of the agreement dependent upon the future will of parties (Kantor v Kantor) * Leave aspects of the agreement blank or open to subsequent negotiation (Bundell v Blan & King v Potgieter & Finestone v Humburg) * Contain wording which is vague * Offer must be made with the intention of being accepted by some other person. Excludes the following which are not offers but simply invitations to do business. * General statements of lowest price (Efroiken v Simon) * Statements of lowest price in response to a specific inquiry (Harvey v Facey) * Invitations to tender (Spencer v Harding) * Newspaper advertisements in general (Shepherd v Farrel Estate Agency) * Advertisements by transport companies of their charges for conveying goods (Frazer v Frank Johnson) * Displays in shop windows (Crawly v Rex) * Displays on self service counters (Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain v Boots Cash Chemists Ltd) * Restaurant menus.
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Essential Elements of a Contract * Clear certain and communicated agreement. Meaning that the parties are consensus ad idem or are of the same mind. The parties to the contract have mutual understanding of what the contract covers, eg. In a contract for the sale of a ‘mustang’ the buyer thinks that he will obtain a car and the seller believes he is contracting to sell a horse, there is no meeting of the minds and the contract will likely be held unenforceable.
Offer and Acceptance
Agreement = offer + acceptance
Requirements of a valid offer * Offer must be definite. It must not:
* Leave aspects of the agreement dependent upon the future will of parties (Kantor v Kantor) * Leave aspects of the agreement blank or open to subsequent negotiation (Bundell v Blan & King v Potgieter & Finestone v Humburg) * Contain wording which is vague * Offer must be made with the intention of being accepted by some other person. Excludes the following which are not offers but simply invitations to do business. * General statements of lowest price (Efroiken v Simon) * Statements of lowest price in response to a specific inquiry (Harvey v Facey) * Invitations to tender (Spencer v Harding) * Newspaper advertisements in general (Shepherd v Farrel Estate Agency) * Advertisements by transport companies of their charges for conveying goods (Frazer v Frank Johnson) * Displays in shop windows (Crawly v Rex) * Displays on self service counters (Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain v Boots Cash Chemists Ltd) * Restaurant menus.
Reward Cases
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