Requirements for a Valid Contract
Business transactions usually take place in form if a contact. A contract is an oral or written set of promises which the parties to it are bound legally. The law of contract is not only managed by common law but also with a few statutory provisions. A contract can only come into existence if the essential of it are satisfied. The major essentials which form a legal agreement are offer and acceptance, capacity, consideration, intention to bind legally and certainty. Other important requirements of contract are legal objective, free consent and clarity. In Singapore the law of contracts is generally governed by English common law along with other statutory provisions.
As discussed initially in order to form a valid contract the first requirement is a valid offer and acceptance. The offeror gives an offer to another party and once the offer is accepted by it a contract is formed. In the case of Harvey v Facey [1893] UKPC 1 it was ruled by the court that in order to form an offer which is valid the party making it must intend to bind the other to its provisions legally. The offer has to be complete and clear so that that the person to who it is made is induced to bind to its terms. In case the offer is not complete it is termed as an invitation to offer. An invitation to offer cannot be accepted and is not binding on the parties. A good example of invitation to an offer is the display of goods in a shop. The concept related to invitation to an offer had been discussed in the case of Partridge v Critenden (1968) 2 All ER 425. However if an advertisement is complete and makes a person to believe that it is an offer it can be regarded as an offer as provided in the case of Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball co [1893] 1 QB 256. Thus according to the facts Alan made a valid offer.
An offer is deemed to be terminated from the time it has been rejected by the offeree. A rejection can be in form of a counter offer as ruled in the case of Hyde v Wrench (1840) 49 ER 132. Once an offer is terminated it cannot be accepted again unless a fresh offer has been made. Thus the offer was rejected by Bernard and got terminated.
As soon as the offer is accepted it becomes binding on the parties. An acceptance is said to be complete if three rules related to it are satisfied. The acceptance has to be conveyed to the offeror, the acceptance must comply with all the terms of the offer and must not have any additional terms to it and the acceptance must be done according to the rules of certainty. As a general rule as provided by the case of Entorres v Miles Far East [1955] 2 QB 327 an acceptance has to be received by the offeror before a contract becomes binding.
However there is an exception to the general rule which is also called the postal rule of acceptance. According to this rule as provided by the case of Adams v Lindsell (1818) 106 ER 250 it is not necessary that an acceptance has to reach the offeror in order to become effective an acceptance becomes effective from the time the letter of acceptance is sent by the offeree and is outside the scope of control of the offeree. Thus the letter and money posted by Damien was a valid acceptance.
Offer and Acceptance
In case the terms of the acceptance are not exactly the same as that of the offer than the acceptance becomes a counter offer. The rule was provided by the case of Hyde v Wrench. The concept of certainty in relation to acceptance was provided by the case of Scammell&Nephew v. Ouston [1941] AC 251 according to which offer and acceptance must be in the same sense. Thus as Bernard offered a less sum he made a counter offer.
As Charleen is a child she has no capacity to contract. Initially the contract was only between Alan and Damien but latter a contract was created between Alan with Bernard and Damien.
As no true contract took place amongst Bernard and Alan here. The acknowledgment of Alan to the money given by Bernard and therefore dealing with the consideration (book) to Bernard on 7 November illegal demonstration and oversight with respect to Alan. it was found latter that the book was available for free at Kaplan Higher Education. Along these lines, Bernard has the obligation to pay damages for loss suffered by Alan for illegal acknowledgment of the offer which Alan had made.
Bernard responded to the offer Alan made on November 1, 2014, expressing enthusiasm for purchasing the Commercial Law course book. The underlying expense of the book which Alan had posted was $ 200. Be that as it may, a counter offer was made by Bernard to the original offer which Alan made. The counter offer which Bernard made was $150 for the book.
A counter offer is a proposal which is made against the original offer. This cannot be accounted as an acceptance. In this kind of offer alteration to the original offer are made. with respect to the counter offer made it is the will of the offeror to accept the counter offer made by a person or not (Neumann, 2014). When a counter offer is made by a person, the other person has the right to either dismiss or accept the offer made. The person making the offer cannot force the other to accept the offer (Calliess and Buchmann, 2016).
In the current case as Bernard has rejected the offer made by Alan by offering $150 for the book. The counter offer had been rejected further by Alan. The offer was made according to the postal rule when the money was posed as Alan had made a fresh offer for selling the book at the same price. Thus Bernard is entitled if any of the contractual terms are violated as a contract has formed.
When a contract is not obliged by one party the other can claim compensation. The compensation can be monitory or the contract may be rescinded along with injunction and specific performance. In the present situation Alan has not given Bernard the notes which was promised in the contract and have fraudulently written the notes on the book itself. Thus Bernard has the right to claim compensation as his rights of the contract has been violated by Alan. Even if the book was for free Alan had the right to sell it according to the rules of consideration which asks only for adequate consideration and not fair.
Capacity to Contract
Charleen first of all has no right to enter into a contract other than the exceptions provided for the contract with minor. This kind of contract for purchase does not fall in the exceptions and therefore is not valid. Further Alan had no intention to sell the book to Charleen and he only agreed to sell it while he was dreaming about football. As intention was not there a contract is not formed and the legal position of Charleen is not there to claim damages.
When a contract is not obliged by one party the other can claim compensation. The compensation can be monitory or the contract may be rescinded along with injunction and specific performance. As a contract was not formed a legal claim cannot be made against Alan by his sister. Alan can solve the problem with her using an alternative dispute resolution. Even if the book was for free Alan had the right to sell it according to the rules of consideration which asks only for adequate consideration and not fair.
Damien had made an offer through the use of messaging to Alan. Alan had accepted the offer and agreed to sell the book Damien. Damien had paid Alan according to the contract. Thus a contract is formed between Damien and Alan as all essentials are fulfilled. Damien is in a legal position to claim damages as a contract has been formed.
When a contract is not obliged by one party the other can claim compensation. The compensation can be monitory or the contract may be rescinded along with injunction and specific performance. In the present situation Alan has given Damien the notes which was promised in the contract and have not committed any contractual breach with him as all the terms has been fulfilled. . Thus Damien has no right to claim compensation as his rights of the contract has not been violated by Alan. Even if the book was for free Alan had the right to sell it according to the rules of consideration which asks only for adequate consideration and not fair.
The different alternative for determination of question is, “Mediation, Conciliation, and litigation.” Mediation is the method where a fair-minded pariah helps the parties in debate accomplishes a persistent decision. Mollification is an easygoing, very much private and arranged strategy for solving a contention. It aids in deciding a dispute whether business or individual. A judge manages the debate determination. The go between who manages the meeting helps both sides to tackle their question such that is it palatable by both the parties in debate (Puil and Weele, 2014).
Nonetheless, mediation is a additional official technique for debate determination. The arrangement of test and evimainsence are regularly supple and serene. The authority is a person that administrates over the contention between the parties. He utilizes more adaptable tenets for trial and proof. The choice which the expert has made is mandatory on both the parties. During the time spent discretion the decision is not definitive on both the parties, the parties may record a supplication under the watchful eye of the trial court for the determination of their contention. Intervention is best relevant for circumstances where the individual needs to settle on a choice the consequence of the contention which generally is sumptuous and broad (Deakin and Morris, 2012).
One of the best strategies for fathoming debate is suit. Suit is the procedure that happens in the Court of run the show. In an official procedure of procedures the candidate may record a suit contrary to the respondent. The candidate and the litigant have the privilege to procure legal consultants, who introduce their matter under the watchful eye of the Court of Law in maintain of their procedures. The judgment is finishing up and mandatory upon both the parties. On the off chance that the inverse party is disappointed with the choice of the Court, he can record a suit of request against the choice in the higher Court. The procedure of case is tedious and exorbitant. Be that as it may, the choice for the most part closures in a reasonable and just way. It is discretionary that in all contradictions between the parties ought to first fall back on substituting contention revelation before recording a suit for procedures (Knapp, 2013).
Conclusion
All the question about contract law have been answered according the principles of contract.
References
Neumann, T. (2014). International Commercial Law from a Nordic and Baltic Perspective: Status and Current Challenges. Nordic Journal of Commercial Law, (2).
Peng, S. O. N. G. (2013). COMMERCIAL INTERPRETATION AND APPLICATION ON ARTICLE 72 OF THE CORPORATION LAW. Journal of Yunmeng, 4, 035.
Rosen, K. (2014). Company Law and the Law of Succession Droit Commercial/Commercial Law. American Journal of Comparative Law,62(Supplement 1), 387-405.
Tepe, B. (2014). Intermediate Appellate Review of Commercial Law Decisions in Turkey. EMAJ: Emerging Markets Journal, 4(1), 59-71.
Yau, B., &Johnstone, A. (2014). Focus grouping attitudes towards commercial law in three legal communities: comparing attitudes of professional legal training students to those of undergraduates and early career commercial lawyers.
Zheng, C. (2013). On the Reform of the Course of Science of Commercial Law in the Undergraduate Law Education: Taking the Reform of the Course of Science of Commercial Law in He’nan University of Technology as an Example. The Science Education Article Collects, 8, 018.
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