essential requirements Flashcards
what are the three essential requirements of a contract?
-agreement (offer and acceptance)
-consideration (including privity of contract)
-intention to create legal relations
what is an offer?
-the party making the offer is the offeror
-who its being made to is the offeree
-offerer usually states verbally/in writing that they will be bound to the terms following a valid acceptance, and they have ITCLR
-contract isn’t formed until offeree accepts the terms
what is an invitation to treat in relation to goods on display in shops/on the internet?
-these items aren’t considered to be an offer
-taking it to the till is making the offer (pharmaceutical society of great britain v boots cash chemists ltd)
-same said about goods in shop window (fisher v bell)
what is an invitation to treat in relation to goods or services advertised in newspapers, magazines and other media?
-advertisement isn’t an offer, its up to the person seeing it to accept (partridge v crittenden)
-some exceptions - advertisements offering reward, eg missing cat, which is known as a unilateral offer (carlill v carbolic smoke ball co)
what is an invitation to treat in relation to traditional coin-operated machinery?
-eg car parking meters
-machine is the offer, inserting the coin is acceptance
-thornton v shoe lane parking
what is meant by communication of offers?
offeree cannot accept an offer than hasn’t been communicated to them
taylor v laird
what are the 4 ways an offer can be terminated?
1-counter-offer (hyde v wrench)
2-death of an offeror or offeree
3-lapse of time (ramsgate victoria hotel v montefiore)
4-revocation (offer cancelled at any time before acceptance)(dickinson v dodds)
what are the three things an acceptance must do?
-mirror the offer and be certain (Sudbrook Trading Estate v Eggleton)
-not change the terms of the offer
-be communicated properly back to the offeror
why must the acceptance be unconditional?
-Hyde v Wrench
-so it doesn’t alter the offer
-although, making enquiries about the offer may not amount to a counter-offer, so may not be taken as rejecting the original offer (Stevenson v McLean)
what is meant by ‘battle of the forms’?
-companies draw up ‘standard forms’ which they use when making many similar offers, containing the terms and conditions they wish to contract on (usually to their advantage)
-if 2 businesses contract together and each have standard forms, which standard form should be used? (Butler Machine Tool Co. Ltd v Ex-Cell-O Corp.)
what is meant by communication of the acceptance?
-contract is only formed if the acceptance is communicated back to the offeror
-generally acceptance can take any form, (bar silence) unless a specific method is stipulated
-usually accepted through conduct (Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball Co.) or an agreed method
what is the postal rule?
(Adams v Lindsell)
-an acceptance is valid and the contract is formed when the acceptance letter is posted and not when it is received by the offeror
-rule is only accepted where it is agreed upon/is a normal method of communication for the parties
what did Pretty Pictures v Quixote Films Ltd contribute to the postal rule?
-an exchange of emails wouldn’t amount to a binding contract where the parties intended their agreement to be conducted by post
what did Greenclose v National Westminster Bank plc contribute to the postal rule?
-on balance, emails should not be subject to an equivalent of the postal acceptance rule
where won’t the postal rule suffice?
-if it’s clear the acceptance must be communicated to the offeror before a contract is formed, by excluding the rule in the terms of the contract
-Holwell Securities v Hughes