Case Study on UK Contract Law: Simon and Majit's Agreement Analysis

This case study examines a contract dispute between Simon, a contractor, and Majit, concerning the construction of a conservatory. It addresses whether Majit is liable to pay an additional £2000 due to increased material costs and whether Simon is obligated to pay his niece, Mary, £500 for her assistance. The analysis applies English contract law principles, including offer, acceptance, consideration, and the intent to create legal relations. The study concludes that Majit is liable for the extra costs because she agreed to them, and Simon is obligated to pay Mary as per their agreement. Remedies for breach of contract, such as compensation, are discussed, emphasizing the legal rights and duties of each party. Desklib provides access to similar solved assignments and past papers for students.

Law of Contract

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Facts in issue-..............................................................................................................................3
Legal issues in case study-..........................................................................................................4
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
References:.......................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
A contract is an agreement between two or more parties that is legally binding on both
the parties. Any agreement that is legally binding by the court is a contract. The contract law in
UK makes the consideration mandatory for both the parties to make a value to that agreement
which is not mandatory in European countries. (Eisenberg, 2018).There are generally four main
elements of contract such as offer, acceptance , consideration and intent to create legal
obligations. The one party first make the offer to the either party regarding such contract. The
party must specify the basic conditions and consideration for the completion of the contract. The
next step is the acceptance given by the party who is offered for such contract. If the other party
agrees to satisfy the conditions to the contract, then such offer is converted into acceptance given
by the other party. The acceptance can be in implied or expressed form. The third element is
consideration (Griffiths, 2020). In the absence of consideration, the contract is void. The last step
is that there must be the presence of legal intention between both the parties. This would further
mean that any offer given in fun or in intoxicated condition with the legal intention to offer such
contract. This would not result into the formation of a contract. Therefore, all these conditions
must be fulfilled in order to make an agreement a valid contract that can be legally bind able in
the eyes of law. This report studies about a case study which is based on contract law. It mainly
discuses about the main elements of contract. It further specifies the rights and duties of the
parties in the case study.
MAIN BODY
Facts in issue-
Simon is a contractor who contracted with Majit to pay £10,000 for building a
conservatory in the garden of Majit. The prime condition for the contract is that the floor must be
of oak. But due to inflation, the cost reach to above £2000. here, Majit agreed to pay such
amount to Simon. Simon took help of his niece, Mary while making the conservatory. But, Majit
denied to pay extra £2000. Mary was promised by Simon to pay £500.

Legal issues in case study-
1. Advise Simon and Majit.
2. Is Mary entitled to sue her uncle Simon?
There are two main legal issues that whether Majit liable to pay the extra amount to
Simon. The second is whether Simon liable to pay Mary? Both these legal issues are discussed
below in detail-
1. Advise Simon and Majit.
The contract case in UK is governed by the English contract law. A binding contract is
a contract that can be legally enforceable in the courts of UK. All the contracts in UK is legally
bind able. The term breach of contract can be explained as when one party does not fulfil the
conditions of the contract which was promised by the defaulter party. When such a condition is
not fulfilled, then the innocent party is liable for compensation which is termed as damages to
the aggrieved party by the law of the country (Hoekstra, 2021). It generally includes breach of
contract on the subjects such as debt recovery, licence agreements, agreement related to
partnership firms, etc. The contract between Majit and Simon is a binding contract. This is so as
both the parties to the contract fulfils all the basic and mandatory elements of contract. Hence,
there is a presence of existence between the parties of the contract. The completion of work
effects the contract in a very severe manner as the use of oak in flooring is the basic condition
that is to be fulfilled by the contractor. The basic condition was already fulfilled. But, due to hike
in prices the cost of oak is increased(Jaradt, 2018). The cause of inflation in oak supply is not in
the hands of contractor. Moreover, the contractor earlier informed for this hike in price to Majit.
Moreover, Majit also agreed to pay extra £2000 to Simon on a serious note. It can also be noted
here that such approval of paying extra was made with legal intentions by Majit. Furthermore,
Simon already informed Majit that he will only continue the project if she will pay extra due to
rise in prices of raw material(Lamy and Azevedo, 2018). Majit do had a choice at the time when
Simon asked for extra £2000. she could have said no to pay extra at that time. But, after such

agreement with Simon to pay more amount made her liable to pay extra after the completion of
project by Simon.
Here, in this present case Simon is legally entitled to receive the extra £2000 from Majit
as contracted with her. The legal remedy present here is that the Simon case file a suit in the
civil courts of UK through which he can get his due amount back from the defaulter party.
Hence, Majit have to pay Simon the remaining amount as decide by them in the contract. In case
of Ms P Douglas v Bespoke Law Services (UK) Ltd , the court ordered to pay the
compensation for breach of contract to the claimant.
2. Is Mary entitled to sue her uncle Simon?
There are also provisions provided for the remedies for breach of contract as prescribed
by the law. There are several types of remedies such as restitution, rescission, specific
performance, reformation, compensation or damages. These remedies helps the innocent parties
to recover from the loss. It made the aggrieved party to restore in the actual position it was
before such breach of contract. Generally, liquidated damages or compensation is served to the
claimant of the case. In some conditions where the acts cannot be recovered from money, the
specific performance is done by the court. So, that the stoppage of that uncertain act is stopped at
that time(McNamara and Sepasgozar, 2020). The four basic conditions of contract are fulfilled in
this case too. Firstly Mary gave offer of assisting Simon in the carpentry work done by him.
Secondly, Simon accepted the offer as after this acceptance Mary started to do work for simon.
Thirdly, there was also the presence of consideration in this contract. This is because Simon
promised Mary too pay her £500 for the work done by her in the project. Fourthly, there also
exist a legal intention between the parties to contract. Both Simon and Mary are having legal
intentions to make a contract. Hence, all the four mandatory elements to make a contract is
fulfilled here in this case scenario. The acceptance can be in implied form. It is not binding that
the contact will be enforceable only when it is in written form. As per the English Contract law,
the contract can also be in oral form to make it enforceable in the courts of UK. The contract
between Simon and Mary can be enforced in the courts of UK. Therefore, Mary is legally
entitled to receive the consideration of £500 from Simon as per the contract. Moreover, if Simon
rejects to pay the consideration, he can be held liable to pay Mary by the civil courts of UK.

Further more, Mary can suit a plaint in the civil court in order to receive the compensation and
due amount from Simon. This consideration is the prime right of Mary as she had worked as
decided by the contract between them Mary had performed her side of duty for which she is
legally entitled to get her remuneration back from Simon. Hence, Simon must pay the amount to
Mary as promised made by him in past(Medway, et.al, 2018). Further more, Mary can sue Simon
for the non- fulfilment of the promise done by him to Mary.
In the case of Mr G Okunniga v Clifton Law Ltd T/a Clifton Law Solicitors, the court
decide that the claimant is not entitled for unfair dismissal. This is because as per the Section
108 of Employment Rights Act, 1996 for unfair dismissal the claimant have to work for at least
2 years in that particular organisation. Hence, there was no breach of contract between the
employer and employee in the prescribed case as judged by the civil court of United
Kingdom(Pargendler, 2018).
CONCLUSION
The above report concludes about the contract law in UK. It also summarises about the
key elements of contract law. It details about the four basic essentials of contract namely offer,
acceptance, consideration and intent to create legal relations between the contractual parties. It
further explains about the theory of breach of contract. It explains that when a person breaches a
contract in the case. It further explains about the remedies that are available for such breach of
contract. It explains various ways of remedies of breach of contract. Thereafter, it also discusses
about a case study where Simon is liable for paying the due amount to Mary. Moreover, Majit is
also liable for paying the agreed amount to Simon. In absence of this payment, Simon can sue
Majit in the courts of UK.

References:
Books and Journals
Eisenberg, M.A., 2018. Foundational principles of contract law. Oxford University Press.
Griffiths, C., 2020. The honest cheat: a timely history of cheating and fraud following Ivey v
Genting Casinos (UK) Ltd t/a Crockfords [2017] UKSC 67. Legal Studies, 40(2),
pp.252-268.
Hoekstra, J., 2021. Introduction to Contract Law–REVISION GUIDE.
Jaradt, N.M., 2018. A critical analysis of e-commerce contracts with relevance to the UAE and
the United Kingdom. International Journal of Law and Management.
Lamy, J.V. and Azevedo, I.L., 2018. Do tidal stream energy projects offer more value than
offshore wind farms? A case study in the United Kingdom. Energy Policy, 113, pp.28-
40.
McNamara, A.J. and Sepasgozar, S.M., 2020. Developing a theoretical framework for
intelligent contract acceptance. Construction Innovation.
Medway, D., et.al ., 2018. Contract cheating in UK higher education: A covert investigation of
essay mills. British Educational Research Journal, 44(3), pp.393-418.
Pargendler, M., 2018. The role of the state in contract law: The common-civil law divide. Yale
J. Int'l L., 43, p.143.