Contract Law Report: Analysis of Cases and Contractual Elements

This report delves into the intricacies of contract law, providing a comprehensive overview of its fundamental principles and practical applications. The report begins by defining contracts as legally binding agreements and highlights the significance of the UK's legislative and regulatory framework. It then explores different types of contracts, such as face-to-face, written, and distance contracts, emphasizing their impact on the parties involved. The core of the report lies in the analysis of several case studies, each illustrating key concepts like offer and acceptance, the termination of offers, and the implications of breach of contract, including conditions and warranties. The cases, including Harvey v Facey and Poussard v Spiers, are used to exemplify these elements, providing a clear understanding of the legal relationships and potential liabilities. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of understanding contract law for organizations to ensure valid contracts and resolve legal disputes effectively. The report also highlights the consequences of breaches of condition and warranty, and their implications for the parties involved.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
Case Scenario...............................................................................................................................3
Case 1................................................................................................................................3
Case 2................................................................................................................................3
Case 3................................................................................................................................4
Case 4................................................................................................................................4
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6
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INTRODUCTION
Contract basically describe as an agreement between two or more parties which is
enforceable by law. Legislative and regulatory framework imposed by government of the UK
guide the contracts (Amin, 2013). Thus, it is imperative to prevent unethical practices in the
country. This report is basically focuses on the various aspects of contracts so that legal
relationships between the parties can be understood. Further, present report will describe the
different types of contracts and their potential impact on the parties involved. Lastly, several
cases are presented and analyzed.
TASK 1
Case Scenario
Case 1
The case describes that Salvatore wanted to attract more customers to sale the cars. For
this aspect, he needs to enter into a contract. It has been suggested that there are three types of
contracts namely; face-to-face, written and distance (Ford, 2010). The best suitable contract for
Salvatore is distance contract because; by developing the website for the garage, he can upload
pictures of the cars in order to attract the customers. This aspect aids in attracting more
customers by using different modes of communication like e-mails, telephone, social media,
websites, etc. Thus, this enables him to know about the ways to place order and deal with
customers.
It will be highly helpful to the Salvatore if; he prepares standard format of a contract or a
deed (Milner, 2011). It is because; by doing this, he will be able to communicate with all terms
and conditions which are planned prior to the commencement of contract. This will help in
reducing the confusions and would become easier for Salvatore to make contracts with the
customers. However, for Salvatore there is an option that he can do the modifications in the
standard form of contract as per their will and nature of buyers (Contracts, 2015).
Case 2
A contract becomes a contract when there is an inclusion of term named “offer and
acceptance”. Offer refers to as the proposal given by one of the party offerer where he proposes
another party to enter into a valid contract (Zoll, 2012). The offer must be valid and to the point
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as described in the case of Harvey v Facey [1893] UKPC 1, where telegram sent by Facey does
not give any evidence for the offer. However, it must be valid in eyes of law then only at the time
of breach of contract, remedy can be paid. Offer can be terminated at the time of death of offerer
and by the lapse of time. In case of Ramsgate Victoria Hotel v Montefiore (1866) LR 1 Ex 109,
offer was terminated due to the lapse of time (Rancourt, 2011).
On the other hand, acceptance refers to as the reply given by the opposite party against
the offer given to them (Chetwin, 2011). Once a valid acceptance is given then a binding contract
is formed. To give a valid acceptance, offeree must communicate the acceptance to the offerer as
in the case of Entorres v Miles Far East [1955] 2 QB 327. Further, the terms of acceptance must
match with the terms of offer. Lastly, the agreement must be certain. However, according to the
case of Felthouse v Bindley [1862] EWHC CP J35, silence does not mean acceptance.
Case 3
In the given case, invitation to treat has been given by Salvatore and his son Markus to
various people for the purchase of equipments used by mechanic at garage. They had given
invitation to treat offer and thus, they received several offers from customers (Ayres, 2012).
Thus, acceptance and rejection lies with them only. At this point, Mike gives an offer and
Markus showed his consent and duly accepted the offer. Thus, there was a legal contractual
relationship formed between them. However, Salvatore was unaware about this contract and he
accepted the offer of Danny who made the offer on phone. The same mistake was conducted by
Salvatore as he failed to provide information about this to the Markus. At evening, when Danny
arrived he found out that equipments have been already sold to Mike and it costs a lot to Danny.
Hence, Salvatore is liable to pay the damages to Danny and also he is liable to pay additional
cost incurred by Danny for purchasing the parts (Sweet and Schneier, 2012).
Case 4
The parts were duly sold to the Mike and after the examination of those equipments; it
was found that some of the parts are rusty. For these aspects, a buyer would now expect a refund
(Kreitner, 2011). Thus, in this contract, there is a breach of condition. Therefore, a condition is
the major element of a contract and if there is a breach of condition; then innocent party has right
to terminate the contract and can claim damages along with that. This can be cited with the case
law of Poussard v Spiers (1876) 1 QBD 41, in which innocent party had a right to break the
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contract because the central aspects of the contract was not fulfilled (Fisher and Kalbaugh,
2012). Therefore, a buyer could claim the refund and terminate the contract as the equipment is
not working well which is a major aspect of the contract (Contract law, 2015).
If in case where some parts would differ in slightly different colour then, buyer could not
expect the refund because this include the term warranty which constitutes the minor aspect of
contract (Pieck, 2010). Further, when there is a breach of warranty then deceased party could
claim for the damages. Therefore, in this case, Mike can claim for the damages and Salvatore
could provide him the damages. This can be cited with the case of Bettini v Gye 1876 QBD 183.
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it can be inferred that every organization must have knowledge
regarding aspects of contract because; this will help them to form a valid contract. It is necessary
to solve and prove an appropriate solution to the legal dispute. The essential elements of a
contract help in describing validity of contract. Moreover, this report also concludes that breach
of condition and warranty results in termination of contract and repayment of damages
respectively.
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REFERENCES
Journals and Books
Amin, N., 2013. Protecting consumers against unfair contract terms in Malaysia: the Consumer
Protection (Amendment) Act 2010. Malayan Law Journal. 1. pp.1-11.
Ayres, I., 2012. Studies in Contract Law. Foundation Press.
Chetwin, M., 2011. Comparative analysis of some aspects of assessment of damages for
contractual breaches in England and Wales, Australia and New Zealand. International
Journal of Law in the Built Environment. 3(2). pp.113-125.
Fisher, J. A. and Kalbaugh, C. A., 2012. United States private-sector physicians and
pharmaceutical contract research: A qualitative study. PLoS Med. 9(7). p.e100-1271.
Ford, D. G., 2010. The ethical duties and prohibitions affecting the decision of an attorney to
blow the whistle on an organization client. Mustang Journal of Law and Legal Studies. 1.
p.44.
Kreitner, R., 2011. On the New Pluralism in Contract Theory. Suffolk UL Rev. 45(8) p.915.
Milner, 2011. Contract interpretation. Potential for relaxing the exclusionary rule. 3(3). pp. 205-
221.
Pieck, M., 2010. A Study of the Significant Aspects of German Contract Law. Annual Survey of
International & Comparative Law. 3(1). p.7.
Rancourt, S. J., 2011. Hacking, Theft, and Corporate Negligence: Making the Case for
Mandatory Encryption of Personal Information. Tex. Wesleyan L. Rev. 18. p.183.
Sweet, J. and Schneier, M., 2012. Legal aspects of architecture, engineering and the
construction process. Nelson Education.
Zoll, F., 2012. The binding power of the contract: Protection of performance in the system of the
Common European Sales Law. Journal of International Trade Law and Policy. 11(3).
pp.259 – 265.
Online
Contract law. 2015. [Online]. Available through <http://e-lawresources.co.uk/Contract.php>.
[Accessed on 8th March, 2016].
Contracts. 2015. [Online]. Available through
<http://www.inbrief.co.uk/contract-law/contracts.htm>. [Accessed on 8th March, 2016].
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