What are the modes of acceptance recognised under the Contracts Act 1950 (Revised 1974) and common law. Support your answers with reference to decided cases.
An acceptance must be communicated for it to be effective and valid. The
mental assent of both parties is not required but the external manifestation should exist. The acceptor must dos something in order to notify his acceptance. For example, he should communicate his acceptance of the offeror. This can be illustrated in the case of Brogden v Metropolitan Railway Co (1877) 2 App Cas 666. In this case, the defendants had for some years supplied the plaintiffs with coals. It was suggested by the defendants that a contract should be entered into between
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Defendant banked in a sum of money to gain the confidence of the public. Plaintiff bought and used the ball in the manner prescribed and caught influenza. She claimed for the compensation but the defendant refused to compensate her. She then sued the defendant. Defendant contended that the advertisement was a mere puff and was not intended to create a binding obligation. Court of Appeal held that an offer can be made to the world and it becomes a contract when any person performs the condition. It was also mentioned in Section 7(b) of the Contracts Act that where the mode of acceptance is specified in the offer, the acceptor must communicate his acceptance in that mode. If no mode is specified, acceptance by any usual and reasonable manner which shows the acceptor 's intention to accept is sufficient.
There are a few types of communication of acceptance. First is via post or
telegram. There is a difficulty in this type os communication of acceptance due to the time lag between sending and receiving and in situations where the acceptance is not received by the offeror without the fault of either party. The general rule at common law is that acceptance is complete when it is brought to the notice of the offeror. But it was stated in the postal rule that an acceptance is complete when the letter containing such acceptance is posted, or when the telegram containing such acceptance is handed in. This can be seen in the case of
Most time, acceptance would be made in clear and loud matters, such as saying “Yes, I accept.” But silence would constitute acceptance of an offer where the common-law and statutory law allows. Supreme Court of Nebraska has confirmed in Joseph Heiting and Sons v. Jacks Bean Co that acceptance may be established by silence or inaction of an offeree and acceptance occurs when the buyer/offeree “does any act inconsistent with the seller/offeror’s ownership...” Neb. U.C.C. section 2-606(1)(c). In Joseph Heiting and Sons v. Jacks Bean Co, 463 N.W.2d 817, 236 Neb. 765 (Neb.,1990), Heiting (Plaintiff) offered to sell its beans at the posted price on September 30, 1987, but was never informed of acceptance or rejection of the offer. Heiting and Jacks
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An acceptance of an offer is “ a manifestation of assent to the terms thereof made by the offeree in a manner invited or required by the offer.
However, the following are the vital steps contained in each contract. Also, without them the contract would not be considered valid. First, an offer entails a statement by one party who is willing to make a contract under certain conditions keeping in mind that it shall be accepted. Second, acceptance gives a picture of the agreement to the terms offered. According to Rogers (2012), acceptance is considered valid when, (1) it is made by an individual to whom the offer was directed, (2) it is unequivocal, and (3) it is communicated to the offeror. Third, consideration encompasses the terms of the contracts between the parties. Therefore,
P2 EXPLAIN THE LAW IN RELATION TO THE FORMATION OF A CONTRACT IN A GIVEN SITUATION
The offer and acceptance model is flawed- only an agreement is necessary. In order to fully comprehend this statement, we must first establish what constitutes and offer and what constitutes acceptance. “An offer is a statement by one party of willingness to enter into a contract on stated terms, provided that these terms are, in turn, accepted by the party to whom the offer is addressed”. Acceptance is “…an unqualified expression of ascent to the terms proposed by the offeror”. The “Offer and acceptance model” is based on the court’s adopt the “mirror image” rule of contractual formation. Applying the definitions stated above, we can take this to mean that there must be a clear and unequivocal offer which must be matched by an equally
Although Amy did not accept the offer from Dr Hu to purchase her medical equipment in the prescribed form of post, her acceptance is still valid. It was suggested that ‘where the offeror has prescribed a particular method of acceptance, but not in terms insisting that only acceptance in that mode shall be binding, that acceptance communicated to the offeror by any other mode which is no less advantageous to him will conclude the contract’ . Therefore suggesting that even though Amy did not respond via post as was asked by Dr Hu, the wording in Dr Hu’s email said that ‘you can respond’, can meaning that it was not specified as the only means of accepting the offer, and that other means of acceptance would be seen to form a binding agreement between the two parties. As Amy’s email was in no way less advantageous to Dr Hu it can be seen as a valid acceptance of the offer that was put to Amy. Amy sent her email of acceptance to the email that she received the email from, which conforms with Section 13A(a) of the Electronic Transactions Act 2000 (NSW) which states ‘the time of receipt of the electronic communication is the time when the electronic communication becomes capable of being retrieved by the addressee at an electronic address designated by the addressee’
Therefore, in a typical residential sales transaction, communication of acceptance can be made orally, e.g., by calling and advising the buyer of acceptance. This oral acceptance does not violate the Statute of Frauds because the contract itself has been written and signed. It is only the communication of acceptance that is oral.
As stated in the Gould Commercial Code Section 2-207 subsection 1, “A definite and seasonable expression of acceptance or a written confirmation which is sent within a reasonable time operates as an acceptance even though it states terms additional to or different from those offered or agreed upon, unless acceptance is expressly made conditional on assent to
Under Common Law, for a contract to exist, three elements must be present: an offer, an acceptance and a consideration. The notions of offer and acceptance under Common Law are not fundamentally different from those in French contract law, although their effects may differ. The offer indicates the willingness of a party to enter into a bargain, and the acceptance reflects the agreement of the other party to the offer.
In BROGDEN v METROPOLITAN RAIL CO it was held the railway company had accepted by placing orders since the amendment of the document, and in TRENTHAM LTD v ARCHITAL LUXFER the court used the 'reasonable man' to identify whether or not there has been acceptance. Both cases seemed to have reasonable outcomes; therefore the courts had been provided with satisfactory rules to help them reach a appropriate verdict. There are various different rules regarding acceptance. There must be a communication of acceptance from the offeree to the offeror. The case of YATES BUILDING v PULLEYN deals whether there had been a prescribed acceptance or not. It was held that there was no practical difference to the offeror therefore the acceptance method was binding. However in the case of ENTORES LTD v MILES FAR EAST CORPORATION there was no prescribed acceptance, yet it was held that the contract was formed in England as that was there acceptance had been received by telex. Other rules that can be used to decide whether there has been acceptance include a waiver of communication of acceptance; silence, which isn't a valid acceptance; ignorance, generally there isn't a binding contract; and acceptance via post using the postal rule. The postal rule can often be misused, as it states that a contract has been formed as
Acceptance is a final and unqualified expression of consent to the terms of an offer. An offer may only be accepted by the person to whom it is made unless an agent is authorized to accept on behalf of that person. In addition, an acceptance must be made in the manner requested or authorized by the offering party. If the party to whom the offer is made
1. For the following types of undertakings, which contract modes are most appropriate? Be prepared to explain the rationale behind your choice.
Contractual agreement has always been viewed in terms of offer and acceptance. The universal principle to contract law has always been parties may get into an agreement in whichever way they deem fit and they are subject to certain terms as they choose. As far as legal requirements vital to their formation are binding contracts may be formed. Moreover a binding agreement may be manifested in terms of writing or in verbal form.
ANSWERS TO QUESTION 1 OF CONTRACTS EXAM Exam 5003 – AThe letter sent by B was an offer. An offer may be defined as a communication, having sufficient definiteness to eliminate the need for further negotiation, and creating the impression of manifest intent to enter into a K. An offer may be made to the general public, as in a mass mailing or advertisement, or to an individual. The letter was sufficiently definite. It provided the description of the product, a price, and a quantity. The quantity, while not particular, first created the impression of a great many pieces available. Second, it operated as an offer for a requirement K by UCC 2306. Such a requirement K need not be explicit in the quantity; it is