Commercial Law Assignment: Singapore Contract Law Analysis

This assignment analyzes a commercial law case involving the sale of a book through Facebook. The analysis focuses on the formation of verbal contracts with three parties: Bernard, Damien, and Charleen. The document examines the elements of a contract, potential breaches, and applicable remedies under Singapore law. It explores issues related to contract price, breach of contract, and the application of alternative dispute resolution processes. The assignment concludes by evaluating the legal positions of each party and discussing the feasibility of different dispute resolution methods, considering the acceptance of the seller's offer and the source of the product. The student provides a comprehensive analysis of the case, applying relevant legal principles and offering insights into potential outcomes and remedies.

1Running head: COMMERCIAL LAW
Commercial Law
Author’s Name
Institutional Affiliation

2COMMERCIAL LAW
Commercial Law
Question 1
Introduction
According to the case, it has been found that Alan made a post on his Facebook to sell
his book namely, ‘Introduction to business law in Singapore’. However, a party namely
Bernard responded to the post and was keen to buy the book. Subsequently, two more parties
namely Damien and Charleen were also interested in purchasing the book. Alan accepted the
offers from three parties i.e. Bernard, Damien and Charleen to sell his book at his decided
price $200.
Issues
Based on the case scenario, Alan made proper legal contracts with Damien and
Bernard, while it was not the case with Charleen who took the book from Alan without
following formal methods of forming a contract. All of the contracts were verbal contracts,
wherein Alan provided two books to both the above-mentioned parties i.e. Bernard and
Damien.
Relevant Law
In relation to relevant law, the contract law has been applied in the case. According to
the commercial law, six elements have to be fulfilled by a contract i.e. “offer, acceptance,
consideration, mutuality of obligation, competency and capacity and written instrument”
(airSlate Legal Forms, Inc, 2019).
Conclusion
In accordance with the law and the scenario, it has been found that a verbal contract
has been made, wherein the written instrument has not been used. However, the other

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elements have been fulfilled in an adequate manner. Hence, a verbal contract has been made
amid the contracting parties namely Damien, Bernard, and Charleen.
Question 2
Introduction
Based on the case, it is observed that Bernard is the first person, who was eager to buy
the book from Alan. Thus, he is the first party, who made a verbal contract. Bernard asked to
reduce the price of the book, if possible.
Issues
In relation to the issues, Bernard wants to buy the book for $150 rather than buying it
at $200. However, Alan does not agree with Bernard and still tags the book at the price of
$200. Even though Alan received the book free of cost, he wanted to sell it at $200 along
with all the notes he had taken in the class, which was accepted by Bernard.
Relevant Law
‘Remedies for Breach of Contract -- Damages’ under contract law can be applied
here. It works when a party of a contract stops or cancels the contract without any
notification. It is further applied when a party provides different product as similar promised
product or service (LII, n.d.; LII, n.d.a).
Conclusion
Based on the law and the scenario, Bernard did not face any damage during the period
of contract because he received the book from Alan as promised on the Facebook post. Alan
clearly mentioned that he will provide the book with his already written notes on it. Hence,
no remedies are applicable in this regard.

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Question 3
Introduction
Charleen is Alan’s younger sister, who does not conduct any verbal contract with
Alan. In addition, Alan did not accept the offer to sell the book to Charleen. Hence, legally
Charleen and Alan have not formed any contract.
Issues
According to the case, Charleen also wants to buy the book from Alan and pay him
later after receiving her pocket money. Alan did not offer the book to her and he did not
negotiate any price with respect to the book. Hence, a legal contract has not been formed.
This main issue in this regard was that Alan did not take the interest shown by his sister to
purchase the book seriously. However, Charleen informed the interest to Alan and later on
duly paid the decided price.
Relevant Law
In this case, the ‘Remedies for Breach of Contract -- Damages’ has been applied,
which works when a party causes damages to the other by breaching the contract (LII, n.d.;
Institute of Public Law, 2019).
Conclusion
To conclude, there has been no legal contract between Charleen and Alan. Hence, she
cannot be considered to be a legal party. Thus, there is no breach of contract due to which no
remedies can be offered to her. She is not liable to claim any remedies after knowing that the
book was issued completely free by Alan.

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Question 4
Introduction
In relation to Damien, he saw the post on Facebook and directly interacts with Alan
for the book. However, Alan accepted his offer and promised to provide the book. Hence, a
legal verbal contract has been formed herein between Alan and Damien.
Issues
According to the case scenario, each aspect of a verbal contract has been fulfilled
herein, but Damien was found later on that the book was available completely free of cost in
Kaplan Higher Education. However, Damien promised to pay Alan for the book on the price
of $200.
Relevant Law
With respect to the law, the ‘Remedies for Breach of Contract -- Damages’ can be
applied to this case scenario. Remedies are legally applicable, wherein one party of a contract
harms the other by a breach of contract. However, the breach is not found between Alan and
Damien (Thomson Reuters, 2019; Nyu, 2009).
Conclusion
Considering all the above aspects, it can be stated that Damien is a legal party in the
above-mentioned contract, which can be considered to be a legal position for Damien.
However, no charges can be made against Alan because Damien convinces Alan to sell the
book, wherein the latter initially did not want to sell the book In addition, Damien completely
agreed to pay the price for the book. The incident associated with infuriation cannot be taken
into consideration because the contract has not breached by Alan.

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Question 5
Introduction
According to the case, the parties Damien and Bernard are highly infuriated due to
Alan’s activity associated with the book’s price, as it was free in Kaplan Higher Education.
For this reason, certain Alternative Dispute Resolution Processes can be applied here i.e.
Arbitration, Collaborative Law, Mediation, and Negotiation.
Achieving Objectives
Pros. Each of the aforesaid processes can provide an adequate solution associated
with the issue. In relation to arbitration, other individuals can provide adequate responses to
the scenario, which can help in resolving the issue. On the other hand, Collaborative law is
‘out-of –law’ dispute resolution process, which can make a decision on their own and does
not involve the court. In relation to Mediation, it can be introduced by a third person, who can
help to reach a mutual decision. In addition, through the process of negotiation both the
parties mutually reach an agreeable solution in the existence of court of justice (ABA, n.d.).
Cons. Each of the above-mentioned approaches is feasible for Alan and others, but
the question associated with the price of the book will arise at the time of dispute resolution,
wherein Damien and Bernard may face an issue, as they accepted the offer of Alan. In
addition it has limited braining authority to each party. In mediation process trust is the only
process of communication, wherein other party can take an advantage for it (Mcmurtry,
2002).
Conclusion
To conclude, a proper resolution is possible in the case associated with book price but
Alan will take advantage because other parties accepted the offer. In addition, the source of

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the product is not the concern herein, as only the six aspects of the contract will be
considered.

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References
ABA. (n.d.). Dispute resolution processes. Resources. Retrieved from
https://www.americanbar.org/groups/dispute_resolution/resources/DisputeResolutionPr
ocesses/
airSlate Legal Forms, Inc. (2019). Elements of a contract. USLeagal. Retrieved from
https://contracts.uslegal.com/elements-of-a-contract/
Institute of Public Law. (2019). Remedies for breach of contract. The University of New
Mexico. Retrieved from: http://jec.unm.edu/education/online-training/contract-law-
tutorial/remedies-for-breach-of-contract
LII. (n.d.). Contract. Legal Information Institute. Retrieved from
https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/contract
LII. (n.d.a). § 2-703. Seller's remedies in general. Uniform Commercial Code. Retrieved from
https://www.law.cornell.edu/ucc/2/2-703
Mcmurtry, B. (2002). Advantages and Disadvantages of Dispute Resolution Processes.
Alternative Dispute Resolution. 1-3.
Nyu. (2009). I. Damages for breach of contract, Uncertainty of Harm, 1-65.
Thomson Reuters. (2019). Breach of contract and lawsuits. Find Law. Retrieved from:
https://smallbusiness.findlaw.com/business-contracts-forms/breach-of-contract-and-
lawsuits.html