Contract law - Research Paper Example

? In everyday life, people engage in a lot of interactions that entail many transactions. Some of these transactions are in the form of a one off activity that does not involve future need to interact. However, there are other cases when people take part in transactions that require making and keeping promises either in written or oral forms. Such promises require legal enforcement to ensure that those parties who take part in such an agreement are protected from exploitation or loss of property. These are the grounds under which contracts are formed. A contract, therefore, is defined as a relationship of exchange that is either written or oral agreement between persons. This relationship contains one or more promises, which are legally enforceable. The contract law plays a central role in regulating contracts that are made between persons in the society. It is worth noting that if the contracts were to be left to operate without any legal enforcement, then many people especially the underdogs and the weak in the society would suffer in the hands of the populace who are economically influential. Contract Law As earlier mentioned, a contract refers to a relationship of exchange that is either written or oral agreement between persons (Blum, 2007). This relationship contains one or more promises, which are legally enforceable. Several crucial elements are reflected by this definition of a contract. They include the following: the first element of an indenture is that, it is an agreement that is either written or oral between a minimum of two persons (Blum, 2007). This element implies that one cannot make a contract with oneself. The relationship in a contract is consensual and voluntary, meaning that no one is coerced to sign a contract. Even, though, the minimum number of people required in signing a contract is two, the transaction can involve a limitless number of parties. The parties create a contract with intent and free will to be bound, and they reach an agreement concerning vital provisions of the relationship. A contractual obligation is distinguished from other legal duties by the agreement element (Blum, 2007). The second element is that a contract is a relationship of exchange that is based on the principle of offer and acceptance. This element emphasizes that the parties who enter in to a contract are bound together by the by a commodity that they are exchanging. Minimum interaction is involved in a number of contractual relationships (Blum, 2007). For instance, if an individual enters into a contract to have his hair cut, the barber will perform a quick activity of trimming his hair and the individual will honor his obligation by paying for the services. These two activities will mark the end of the contractual relationship. On the contrary, contractual relationships like supply contracts or leases could last for several years, and the parties involved engaging into constant dealings that are controlled by the provisions stated in the agreement. A contract relationship has an essential purpose which is exchange. Society and the economy require the trade of intangible rights, services and property. These exchanges are regulated and facilitated by a contract as part of its chief role. Therefore, a contract carries with it the principle of reciprocity, in which one must part with something to get something back. The third essential element is that a contract should have a minimum of one promise, which is made with a hope of being honored in a later date as per the agreements. A contract is not constituted in the instantaneous exchanges, even though they involve a trade and are consensual (Blum, 2007). A promise, therefore, goes beyond the agreement instance as a future commitment. If both parties honor their side of the commitment at the expiry of the agreed duration, then there will be no need of involving the law in contracts. Contract law comes in incase of breach of contractual agreement by either of the parties. Last but not least, a contract has an enforceability element that ensures that legal actions can be taken against people who may choose to breach a contract for whatever reason. In such a breach, the contract law determines the party who did not hold his side of the bargain, and he is forced to compensate the other party. For example, Sam and Peter enter into a contract that Sam will give his van to Peter in exchange for $ 600 cash. On the day of their exchange, Sam decides not to continue with the sale. So he informed Sam that he has changed his mind. Should Peter decide to sue Sam, then Sam will be compelled to by a court order to hand over the van against $600 payment. There could be a situation where Peter may voluntarily choose not to hand over the van to Sam. In such a situation, the court will command a sheriff to seize the van from Sam and give to peter. However, the person to be compensated must prove that the breach did cost him a monetary loss. The aspect of legal enforceability of the contract is vital to ensure that every citizen is protected from exploitative contracts (Blum, 2007). The above elements demonstrate the essence of contracts and the contract law as the pillar of formulation and implementation of public policies. Contract law in the sphere of public policy acts as the central core of common principles and rules that apply to the entire contracts. However, these rules and principles may vary in a transaction, which have laws that govern it. A judicial body or the statute may create such a law that will govern a form of a contract. It is, therefore, imperative to pay attention to any possible variations, which could be made by a judge or the statute concerning the features of a contract, before signing it (Blum, 2007). This will save you from any disappointments and possible legal actions in case of a breach. A contract law has several fundamental values and policies that regulate its execution. Strong ideological values lay at the base of contract law, whose rules are inspired by deliberate and conscious public policy. This write up will briefly introduce some of the policy themes with a purpose of appreciating the legal rules. The first policy theme in contract law is contract freedom, which refers to the voluntary and consensual nature of a contract. This is an indication that individual autonomy is mandatory in any contractual relationship (Blum, 2007). The opposite is also true that a person cannot be bound into a contract in the absence of his assent. The constitution of the United States guarantees and elevates the contracting power above what is stipulated by the English Common Law. Further, contract liberty is supported by the right to deal with and to hold property, as part of the provisions in the US constitution. Contracts engross the exchange of monetary values, either in the form of services, tangible property or intangible rights (Blum, 2007). Least but to mention, the constitutional protection of property rights is brought in to play by the power to choose whether to dispose or use property, or prefer not to carry out anything with the property in question. Therefore, no economic intercourse will be effective unless it is desired by the participants and they have the liberty to bargain and come to terms that are mutually desirable. While contract freedom is a primary value, its exercise can easily be inclined to favor one person and oppress the other. This point brings an essential concern to the weak people in the society, who can be tricked or coerced to enter into unfavorable contractual relationships. The idea at this point is that, unconditional exercise of freedom of contract by an overriding person will beat the exercise of comparable freedom by the weaker person (Blum, 2007). For instance, an influential person could eye a piece of land belonging to a poor person. The influential person may deceive the poor person to sign a contract with him, which might result in the poor person losing his property. To shun this occurrence, the legislature provides rules that protect the weaker person from being overwhelmed by the complimentary exercise of contractual supremacy by the mighty. For example, an insurance company can have its action freedom restrained to refrain it from imposing one sided terms on employees. The second policy theme is to promise morality that reinforces the legal and ethical obligations to a person to keep the contractual promises. Breaking contracts is morally wrong, and thus the promise to honor them should be the chief objective of everyone (Blum, 2007). This will ensure that the goal of maintaining social harmony is achieved with minimum friction. It is pertinent to note that, courts tend to underplay the moral aspects of keeping promises and they deal with breach of contract in solely monetary terms. This brings us to the third policy in contract law, which is accountability, for reliance and conduct. It is imperative to note that, a contract law cannot be enforceable if it violates public policy in any way. This implies that, any contract should be in line with the law, and; therefore, it should be legal. For example, the interstate sale of switchblade kits was illegalized in America, and the enforceability of such contracts ceased. Accountability for reliance and conduct implies that an individual should be deemed accountable for acts or words rationally manifesting aim to contract. The other individual acting rationally should be warranted to depend on that expression of consent. The reliance and accountability principle qualifies voluntariness value (Blum, 2007). Volition is measured by the state of mind as made obvious to the outer world. Further, a person’s testimony about his actual intentions is given less weight than his manifested conduct inactions and words. Protection of reasonable reliance in the law of contract has both a general and unambiguous aspect. The unambiguous aspect dictates that a character that goes into an agreement has the entitlement to rely on the responsibilities that have been offered (Blum, 2007). The law intervenes to enforce them in case they are breached. Similarly, the general aspects carry the same idea, but it is extended to the larger society. This happens when many individuals enter into different agreements under different contexts, and rely on promises that make them feel secure. Such an expectation of secure reliance on promises rises in the society, assuring the general public to rely on contracts because incase of breach, the available legal resources will intervene. The above mentioned legal protection of contract against possible breach introduces the idea of protection of the underdogs and social justice. Underdog protection and social justice cannot be separated from contract law. As I earlier suggested in the text, in connection with both reliance and contract freedom, that contemporary law of the contract is prone to the burden of contractual commitments as a result of dishonesty, coercion or lack of significant option resulting from imbalances of power (Blum, 2007). Contract law strives to achieve answerability for manifested behavior and autonomy of the indenture against the necessity to defend susceptible parties from unjust impositions. This obligation of the contract law of protecting the underdog and promoting social justice is reinforced by fairness in contracts. Fairness is well understood in social contexts because the definitions vary across different societies. For example, a certain act could be seen as being fair in an African country but be a great violation of human rights in America. However, so long as the contractual terms and conditions are not favoring side of the agreement, then fairness will be exercised in such a contract. Social justice demands that everyone should be treated evenly irrespective of their skin color, race, political opinion, sexual orientation or gender (Blum, 2007). The law of contract recognizes the equal rights of parties who enter into a contract, and incase of a breach the law intervenes without any discrimination. Furthermore, contract law facilitates social justice by protecting minors and people who are mentally handicapped. Such people can easily be lured into signing contracts that can have adverse effects on their financial status, due to poor or lack of proper understanding of terms and conditions of a contract. As such, such a contract that involves minors and people who are not sane are nullified without question (Blum, 2007). The law of contract lays down the procedures and requirements that individuals must fulfill before they are termed as eligible to sign a contract. Therefore, children and insane people are exempted from entering in any contractual relationship. Further, contract law serves the purpose promoting social justice by protecting employees and consumer from exploitation by prominent companies and employers. For example, when an employee secures a job with a company, the two enter into a contract as follows. The employee offers to sell his expertise, labor and service to the company in exchange for wages that should be paid promptly. Besides, the company should provide the employee with favorable working conditions, which do not jeopardize the safety of the employee (Blum, 2007). The contract law ensures that both parties honor their promises with the highest possible level of honesty. The law will ensure that justice is done in case of a breach of the contract, either by the employee or the company through compensation. In this same way, the law of contract finds a level ground between the small consumer and the large companies. The large companies are majorly involved in manufacturing and distribution of commodities required by consumers for survival. The law requires them to manufacture high quality goods the meets the standard that are set by the health and sanitation acts. Contract law further protects the consumers from price exploitations by the big companies. On the other hand, the law ensures that the consumers pay some money in exchange for the goods that they consume. That way both consumers and pertinent companies are constantly protected by contract law and their power is balanced at all times. Below are two sample contract law cases. Sample contract law Cases Case Carlill V. Carbolic Smoke Ball Co (1893) 1 QB 256 (CA) The above mentioned case involved a company that had advertised its own product (smoke balls drugs) that prevents people from contracting common cold and influenza. The advert indicated that if anyone takes the drugs three times a day in two weeks and still contract common cold, then the person will get a reward of $ 100. So Carlill took the challenge and after using smoke balls for three weeks, he got the cold and proceeded to claim the reward. Though the company tried to dispute that the provisos of the contract were vague, and only meant to invite people to buy the drugs, it lost the case to Carlill. He was given the reward of $100 through a court order. Case Adams V. Lindsell (1818) 1 B Ald. 681 This case was about acceptance and communication of acceptance of the offer in a contract. The main issue was the lack of timely communication of acceptance of a contract offer due to technical errors, which involved wrong posting. The offerer decided to sell the commodities to another party, the assumption that the first person did not accept his offer. The court ruled that the contract was created between the two parties since there was an offer that was made and there was a corresponding acceptance of the offer. In conclusion, contract refers to as a relationship of exchange that is either written or oral agreement between persons. This relationship contains one or more promises, which are legally enforceable. Several crucial elements are reflected by this definition of a contract. The first element is of a contract is that it is an agreement that is either written or oral between a minimum of two persons. This element implies that one cannot make a contract with oneself. The relationship in a contract is consensual and voluntary, meaning that no one is coerced to sign a contract. Even, though, the minimum number of people required in signing a contract is two, the transaction can involve a limitless number of parties. The parties create a contract with intent, and free will to be bound and they reach an agreement concerning vital provisions of the relationship. Contract law has policy themes that inform the public policy process. The law of the contract is also very essential in promoting social justice, as well protecting the underdog. Lastly, the law of contract creates a balance of power between the weak and the strong in the society. References Blum, A. (2007). Contracts: Examples & Explanations. New York: Aspen Publishers. Read More