Contract Law Essay

In the application of English contract law, there were important landmark cases for particular contractual issues. It is crucial for us to look into these cases as these cases give us a very good source of reference to the current cases.

The doctrine of frustration is another piecemeal solution that enables fairer performance of contracts. Frustration acknowledges that it is unjust to tie a party’s obligations entirely to the contract. Frustration is invoked to rectify certain unfair situations where unforeseen contingencies have occurred. This doctrine provides for acts beyond the control of either party, which renders performance impossible. As Lord Bingham stated, the doctrine of frustration “was to give effect to the demands of justice, to achieve a just and reasonable result, to do what was reasonable and fair, as an expedient to escape from injustice where such would result from enforcement of a contract in its literal terms after a significant change in circumstances.” Lord Simon in Panalpina stresses this point that frustration was developed “as an expedient to escape from injustice”. However one main limitation of the doctrine is the requirement of foreseeability of the frustrating event. Frustration is thus rarely used and will only be applied where a change to the “foundation of the contract” has destroyed the “basis of the contract.” The problem with the doctrine of frustration as piecemeal solution is that some events are inevitably impossible to predict. Therefore a good faith

After making this agreement, and before the first day of the first concert, the Hall was destroyed by a fire; meaning the concerts couldn’t be performed as intended. Both parties evidently had no thought about the possibility of such a disaster, and had no form of reference to it in their agreement. Blackburn J. in reviewing this case and the doctrine of frustration court said, 'There seems no doubt that where there is a positive contract to do a thing, not in itself unlawful, the contractor must perform it or pay damages for not doing it, although in consequence of unforeseen accidents, the performance of his contract has become unexpectedly burthensome or even impossible. ' However, in the case of Taylor v Caldwell, the contract was neither positive nor absolute but was subject to an implied condition making this rule not applicable as the parties must have known the risk at the start of the contract to make it absolute; therefore the verdict was that neither party was at fault and the doctrine of frustration applied.

When most Americans perform an act that is against the law, they do not even realize what the consequences are of their actions. There are a lot of people that do not know the extent of the law and what technically is and is not against the law.

11. There is no doubt about the existence of the Doctrine in Australia and the United Kingdom. Its application was implicit and overriding, albeit within a narrow compass. A contract validly entered, could not bind a government or statutory corporation from exercising its statutory powers, absent some statutory prohibition, to the prejudice of the other party. Strictly, properly invoking the doctrine was not a breach of contract. Neither was it a frustrating event. It did not sound in damages contrary to the argument of Hogg. Invoking the doctrine to terminate a contract may be the subject of administrative review

Contract Law The law of contract recognises that an agreement is dependent on consent and this, therefore, implies that an agreement obtained by threats or undue persuasion will be insufficient. Many contracts in practise involve a degree of 'arm twisting' and this raises the question as to what level of pressure is acceptable to exert over another contracting party? This problem is dealt with by the common law doctrine of duress and the equitable doctrine of undue influence. The courts have developed these doctrines over a long period of time and since the Judicature Act 1873 it has been the duty of all courts to administer both doctrines concurrently.

A contract is frustrated when after the contract is made, the contract become unlawful or impossible to perform. There are some events that the promisor could not prevent from such as natural

A breach of contract occurs when a party turns away from its contractual obligations or fails to perform them. One example is when the contractor delivers work that does not comply with the agreed requirements, or when the contractor refuses to follow the employer’s instructions in relation to removing defective work from the site. It is important to note that, in the first example, the non-compliance should be judged upon delivery. The case Jarvis v City of Westminster represents the roots of the doctrine of temporary disconformity which advocates that the contractor cannot be considered at breach of contract due to defects occurring prior to practical completion. The main reason is that work in progress is always subject to remediation. In a later case, Lord Diplock expressed it as follows:

In this case the majority decided that Dunlop had not provided any consideration to buy Selfridges promise. The consideration had been provided by Dew. But Viscount Haldane held that independently of the need of consideration, there was a fundamental principle that “only a party to a contact can be sued on it” and therefore Dunlop was not in any way a party to the contract but it was actually between Dew and Selfridge.

A contract is a promise or a set of promises that one party makes to another and that can be enforced using law. Contracts are made for commercial bargains. A contract is legally binding. It entails selling or hire of commodities such as services, goods or land. The major elements required for a legally binding contract are offer and its acceptance . When one person expresses an offer on outlined terms to contract and the offeree indicates that they have agreed to the set terms, the contract becomes legally binding. There is usually no room for negotiations after a contract has been made. Therefore, an offer that is valid must be in existence. There are requirements for existence of such a valid offer. This essay assesses the requirements.

#1 In order for a contract to be enforceable, there must be a mutual agreement between the parties. One way to contest a contract is by proving there is no mutual agreement or a lack of assent; therefore, it is important to have genuine assent before entering into a contract. In cases where the assent is not genuine, the contract may be unenforceable. Mistakes and Fraud are two of the reasons contracts lack genuine assent.

Indeed, the privity of contract doctrine has been associated with a number of controversies evidenced amongst

In the recent past, most Australian and English courts would emphasize on the practice and application of solving contractual disputes traditionally. The traditional system renders the court a freedom to practice jurisdiction without considering the extrinsic values of the transaction. However, with the intervention of the modern parole framework of assessing evidence, judges admit it is easy to administer justice. The jurisdiction is verified after critically evaluating the background of the parties and the contract in a significant correlation to the core aim of a contract. Additionally, in some instances, the court will consider evidence of prior negotiations. However it is practical in the case where the parties are unaware of the belying facts and that these facts will not manifest any form of biasedness amongst the contradicting parties. The approach enables the Australian jurisdiction to obtain adequate background research of a case to administer

The Supreme Court, by a majority, disagreed with the lessees’ outlook. Lord Neuberger argued its decision by stating that the purpose of this clause was to quantify, with certainty, service charges for the next ninety-nine years. The clause contained precise and definite terms, consequently applicable. Lord Neuberger encouraged certainty of contract law. Then, he asserted the landlord was worried

'The data for decision, on the one hand, the terms and conditions of the contract, read in the light of the then circumstances and, on the other hand, the events which have occurred.' In the nature of thing there is often no need for any elaborate enquiry. The Court must act upon a general impression of what its rule requires. It is for that reason that special importance is necessarily attached to the occurrence of an unexpected event that, as it were, changes the face of the things. But even so, it is not hardship or inconvenience or material loss itself which calls the principle of frustration into play."(18)