This document provides legal advice on a case where Cameron refuses to take wheat from Robert. It explains the rules of offer and acceptance, postal acceptance rule, counter offer, revocation of an offer, and request for information. It also discusses the implications and application of these rules in the given case.
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BUSINESS LAW Issue The key issue is to offer a legal advice to Robert about the case where Cameron refuses to take wheat from Robert. Rule Offer and Acceptance An agreement between the parties is an essential element for contract enactment. Legal offer and acceptance are the two main factors of valid agreement. Offer is directed on the part of the offeror to the offeree. The offer would be considered as legally enforced when it reaches to the concerned offeree.When the offer is received by the offeror, then it is essential that the offeree must communicate his/her acceptance for formation of agreement (Andrews, 2014). This is because any mental acceptance or mere silence would not be sufficient for legal acceptance as evident fromFelthouse v. Bindley(1862) 142 E.R. 1037 case.The acceptance would be enforceable when the offeree accepts the offer without any condition and communicates the same within the time period specified by the offeror. Further, if the offeror has not specified any time frame for acceptance the offer, then a reasonable time would be taken into consideration that a reasonable person would take under the existing circumstances (Gibson and Fraser, 2014). Also, it is imperative that the offeree must communicate the acceptance through the communication mode specified by the offeror. It means if the offeror has specified to use instantaneous modes to convey the acceptance, then it is essential for contract formation that the offeree uses instantaneous mode only. The acceptancethroughinstantaneousmodewhichisreceivedbytheofferorwouldbe enforceable irrespective of the fact that the offeror has read it or not as evident from the verdict ofBrinkibon v Stahag Stahl House of Lords[1983] 2 AC 34 case (Davenport and Parker, 2014). Postal Acceptance Rule This is traditional mode of conveying the acceptance towards offer. According to this rule, the acceptance becomes enforceable and contract would be enacted between the parties when the offeree placed the acceptance letter into post box. The verdict ofAdams v Lindsell(1818) B & Aid 681 is the testimony of this. The event of the acceptance letter reaching the offeror and the underlying time involved in the same is immaterial (Carter, 2015). Counter Offer 2
BUSINESS LAW It is essential that the acceptance must be unconditional as any acceptance which comprises any condition to the initial offer would be categorised as counter offer. Directing counter offer has implications in the contract formation because as the offeree sends counter offer ,the original offer directed by the offeror gets terminated. It means the initial offer would not be available for acceptance for the offeree and no contract would be formed based on the original offer as evident from the judgement given inHyde v Wrench[1840] EWHC Ch J90. Further, the initial offeror has the legal position to accepts or rejected the counter offer of the offeree (Taylor and Taylor, 2015). Revocation of an Offer The offeror has the right to revoke the offer but it is imperative that it must be before acceptance by offeree as evident from the verdict announced inCooke v Ocley 3 T.R.653 case. It means the offeror would not be able to revoke the offer once the offeree has accepted it. Further, it is noteworthy that revocation of the offer must be communicated to the offeree prior to theacceptanceby any meansof communicationeitherdirectlyor indirectly (Paterson, Robertson and Duke, 2015). Request for Information It is also crucial to note that original offer would not get terminated when the offeree makes some enquiry about the offer in order to get more information and hence, it would remain open for acceptance for the offeree. The offeror cannot cancel the offer when the offeree requests for information rather than sending the acceptance as witnessed fromStevenson, Jacques & Co v McLean(1880) 5 QBD 346 case. This is because request for information is not counter offer and thus the original offer would remain open (Pendleton and Vickery, 2016). Application It is apparent from the case facts that Robert has posted an offer letter to Cameron to sell 50 metric tons of wheat for $250 per metric ton on September 5. This letter has reached to Cameron on September 7 and becomes enforceable for possible acceptance. Cameron is ready to accept the offer and hence, he posted a letter for request to information that if he would not get any contrary from Robert then he would assume that the price also includes shipping charges. Here, it is apparent that Cameron’s letter does not constitute as any condition and hence, it is not a counter offer and mere request to information. As a result of 3
BUSINESS LAW this, the original offer is still available for acceptance for Cameron. Further, Robert read online that the price of wheat is about to fall and thus, he has sent a email containing the fact that the price is also included delivery charges. After receiving the email, Cameron has posted an acceptance letter to Robert. It is evident that acceptance would be enforceable immediately and contract has been formed between Robert and Cameron at the moment only when he posted the letter into the mail box. Further, Cameron has saw the post regarding the decline of the wheat prices and then he has sent mail to Robert indicating that he does not want to accept the offer to buy the wheat. The mail of Cameron which contains the revocation of the acceptance would not be valid because he has already sent the acceptance letter through post which implies that he has enacted a contractwithRobertand thus,hecannotrefuseto purchasethewheatfromRobert irrespective of the fact that the price of wheat has fallen to $230 metric ton or else Robert has the legal rights to sue Cameron for not fulfilling the contractual liabilities. Conclusion It is apparent from the above that Cameron has sent his acceptance letter through post after getting the confirmation about the enquiry and hence, the acceptance becomes enforced. As a result, Robert and Cameron have enacted a contract. Thus, Robert cannot refuse to buy wheat from Robert and thus, he has to take 50 metric tons of wheat at the agreed consideration amount which is $250 per metric tons. 4
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BUSINESS LAW References Andrews, N. (2014)Contract Law.3rd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 112 Carter, J. (2015)Contract Act in Australia.3rd ed.Sydney:LexisNexis Publications, pp. 98 Davenport,S.andParker,D.(2014)BusinessandLawinAustralia.2nded.. Sydney:LexisNexis Publications, pp. 104 Gibson, A. and Fraser, D. (2014)Business Law.8th ed. Sydney: Pearson Publications, pp. 143 Paterson, J. Robertson, A. and Duke, A. (2015)Principles of Contract Law.5th ed. Sydney: Thomson Reuters, pp. 187 Pendleton, W. and Vickery, N. (2016)Australian business law:principles and applications. 5th ed.Sydney:Pearson Publications, pp. 134 Taylor, R. and Taylor, D. (2015)Contract Law.5th ed. London: Oxford University Press, pp. 115 5