Assignment On Eric in Relation

Running head: CONTRACT LAW
CONTRACT LAW
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

CONTRACT LAW1
Question 1
Issue
Whether Fred would have a claim against Eric in relation to the Law of Contract.
Rule
For the purpose of making a valid contract some essential elements need to be fulfilled,
some of them are; The offer and acceptance: As per the English Court’s formal approach an
agreement only exists when there is an unequivocal acceptance against an offer. The general rule
regarding an agreement is that a communication needs to be made by the offeree regarding the
acceptance of the offer, as laid down in the case of Entores Ltd v Miles Far East Corporation1.
Intention to create legal relationship: not all the agreements are legally binding. In order
to make an agreement legally enforceable both of the parties need to have an intention of
creating a legal relationship, in the breach of the contract terms the parties may seek legal
remedies. In Edwards v Skyways2 the agreement was presumed by the court as a legally binding
agreement as the agreement was a commercial agreement and both the parties had intention of
creating a legal relationship.
Certainty: For the enforceability of an agreement the terms of that agreement needs to be
certain in respect of its subject matter, price and the identification of the parties. In Baird Textile
Holdings Ltd v M&S plc3 it was held by the court that a term of any agreement cannot be implied
because of the uncertainty of any product’s quantity and price.
1 [1955] EWCA Civ 3
2 [1964] 1 WLR 349
3 [2001] EWCA Civ 274

CONTRACT LAW2
Consideration: In English law consideration is the additional requirement before the
enforceability of the contract. In Currie v Misa4 it has been held by the court that in order to
enforce any agreement it needs to be proved that something has been brought against anything
which in eye of law has a same value and not necessarily money, it can also be a promise of
undertaking any particular act or of not undertaking the same.
The rule of pre-existing duty is a consideration aspect within the contract law. The
bargains which are supported by any consideration are recognized by the English law and not the
bare promises. This rule applies in case of paying extra. The court held in Stilk v Myrick5 that a
bargain cannot be enforced if the claimant has any pre-existing obligation related to the pre-
existing contract. As an example, Chris entered into an agreement to sell music CDs to Joe in
consideration of $200, but after Joe departed for receiving the CDs, Chris called Joe and asked to
pay extra $50 for the same. This rule would be applicable here so that Joe could agree for the
payment of extra money but refuse to do the same later at the time of delivery.
Application
In this given scenario, Fred was engaged by Eric for building a boat in consideration of a
sum of £10,000 which is payable after the completion of the work, however, after completing
more than a half of work Fred asked for an extra charge of £5,000 on the completion. Which Eric
initially agreed but eventually refused to pay the same after the completion of the work. In this
case, offer has been made by Eric for making a boat to Fred and which was accepted by Fred
thus there is an agreement. This can be supported with the case of Entores Ltd v Miles Far East
Corporation6. A consideration also exists here as both of them agreed to a payment of £10,000
4 [1875] LR 10 Ex 153
5 (1809) 2 Camp 317
6 [1955] EWCA Civ 3