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The Importance Of Acceptance As An Element Of A Contract

Satisfactory Essays

Introduction There are a number of requirements that must be satisfied for a contract to be valid and therefore legally binding. The conventional method to determine the existence of a contract is to first identify if an agreement between the parties exists. This part of the contract formation is where acceptance plays a vital role; “meeting of the minds” is demonstrated when the offer made by one party is unconditionally accepted and the acceptance is communicated to the party that made the offer. The court’s traditional approach is to analyse contracts into the form of offer and acceptance.1 Lord Denning, in the case of Gibson v Manchester City Council, 2 has criticised this approach by saying that there is no need to look for a strict offer and acceptance but instead to examine the correspondence as a whole, as well as the conduct of the parties. The House of Lords, however, disagreed with him.3 This action reflects the importance of acceptance as an element of a contract. In this essay, acceptance will be examined in great detail. The requirements for a valid acceptance namely acceptance must correspond to the offer, acceptance must be unqualified, and acceptance must be communicated will be discussed. The exceptions to the general rule will be looked into and precedents will be examined to further understand how the courts interpret acceptance and its validity. Acceptance is the expression, either in oral, writing or by conduct, of an unqualified assent to the

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