offer and acceptance

Question 1

What does English law requires to be fulfilled for a contract to exist

Answer 1

1) An agreement, which is fulfilled through an offer and acceptance. 2)Contractual Intention to create a legally binding relationship. 3) Consideration: something must have been done in return for the promise. 4) Occasionally, the contract must be in writing.

Question 2

What is a bilateral contract

Answer 2

involves an exchange of promises e.g. the sale of good, the seller promises to transfer ownership and possession to the buyer, in return the buyer promises to return and pay the price and take away the items.

Question 3

What is a unilateral contract

Answer 3

There is a promise in return for an act. The person performing the act does not make a promise to do the act, so he cannot be sued if he does not do the act. E.g. a promise of a reward to find a dog.

Question 4

What is an offer

Answer 4

• An offer is an indication of a party’s willingness to contract with the party to whom it is addressed and it will become legally binding as soon as there is a valid acceptance.

Question 5

Which case indicated that an offer may be made to an individual or the world at large

Answer 5

Carlill V Carbolic Smoke Ball Co (an advert was placed in the window offering £100 for anyone who contracts influenza after using the carbolic smoke ball, it also stated that a £1000 deposit had been put down)- it was held that a reasonable member of the public after reasoning the advert would believe that the company intended to be bound by the terms stated, so the advert was held to be a vaild offer.

Question 6

In which case was the objectivity principle established by which judge- that the reasonable person think that it was intended to bind them

Answer 6

Smith v Hughes- Blackburn LJ

Question 7

Which case indicated that there was no offer ‘may be prepared to sell’ as this was fatally unequivocal

Answer 7

Gibson v Manchester CC

Question 8

What was held in Harvey v Facey

Answer 8

It was held there is no offer until D agreed to pay a certain price, a request for information is not an offer- but a preliminary statement

Question 9

In which case was ‘i am prepared to sell you my estate for £600,000’ held not to be an offer but a preliminary statement

Answer 9

Clifton v Palumbo

Question 10

What is an invitation to treat

Answer 10

An invitation to treat does not demonstrate an intention on the part of the person making the statement to be automatically legally bound if the other party accepts, It contemplates further negotiation- it invites the other person to make an offer

Question 11

What is the general rule for display of goods for sale

Answer 11

A display only constitutes an invitation to treat, whether it is a display in a shop window (Fisher V Bell (flick knives))) or on a shelf inside a shop.

Question 12

What was it held in Pharmaceutical Society of GB v Boots cash chemists

Answer 12

CoA held that it was merley an invitation to treat – it was for the prospective purchaser to make the offer when they took the drugs to the till- hence the Act was not infringed. - this is necessary otherwise a customer would not be able to change their mind

Question 13

When will the general rule regarding shop windows be departed from

Answer 13

when it is clear the display it intended to bind as an offer

Question 14

What is the general rule for tenders

Answer 14

that an initiation to submit a tender is normally an ITT, the tender is the offer which is then available for acceptance. The invitation to tender remains an ITT but with a promise to accept the best financial terms

Question 15

Is there an obligation to accept the highest offer? Case

Answer 15

No, Spencer v Harding

Question 16

When can the general rule be displaced

Answer 16

In the obiter of Spencer it indicated that if the person said and ‘we undertake to sell to the highest bidder’

Question 17

What was held in Harvey Investments Ltd v Royal Trust Company of Canada

Answer 17

(invitation to make confidential bids. D2 bid an amount plus an offer of an excess of $101, 0000 of the other bid) It was held that could not be an offer- a referential bid would not be allowed as it would deny the other bidder the opportunity to purchase.

Question 18

What happened in the case of Blackpool and fylde Aero Club Ltd v Blackpool BC

Answer 18

• (local authority sent out an invitation to 7 parties to tender for concession to operate pleasure flights from a local airport. The invitation stated that the Council do not bind themselves to accept all or any part of the tender and that no tender which is received after a certain time and sate will not be considered. BFAC submitted before the deadline, but the post box was not checked until after the deadline.) The CoA held that was in breach of contract, there is an implied obligation to consider all tenders submitted in time.