Contract Law Analysis - Case Study Example

CONTRACT LAW WORK al Affiliation) PART A First, it is important for one to understand what contract law says based on the existing scenarios. Whichever agreement individuals gets themselves into and is enforceable in court is contract. (Andrews, N. 2011) To ensure that an agreement is enforceable in court, several aspects of the contract needs to be recognized. First, it should be clear that a lot of emphasis needs to be placed on the fact that the parties involved in the contract consented to the terms and that such terms may bind the parties in courts of law. (Beale, H. G., & Tallon, D. 2002) The second concept that needs to come clear on contract is that the validity of any contract exists only when one party makes an offer and the other party accepts through the communication of the acceptance of the offer or performing as required by the terms of the offer. (Beale, H. G., & Tallon, D. 2002) To this end, the discussion will examine individual cases and argue them out based on the legal position of the cases. Is there a contract between Barry and Sally? To argue the case of Sally, it requires that one understand what contract law means. Like stated earlier, the contact is regarded to be in place, the party whom expressed the interest in the offer must have performed according to the terms of the offer. In the case of Sally, though she demonstrated her interest on Barry’s books and posted the letter to Barry in time, she did not meet the terms of the offer as Barry had stated. She ought to have understood that writing and including the address, (Carter, J. W., & Peden, E. 2007), which is complete with the postcode on it, was part of the terms she ought to have met before posting the letter to Barry. But another aspect of the law may be brought on board to argue Sally’s case. The contract law requires that, the validity of the contract viewed as, if there is certainty in the contract and that the parties involved in the contract, are presumed, form their behaviors that they had intension of making the terms binding, then in general, it can be assumed that the terms of the offer is binding. (Elliott, C., & Quinn, F. 2007) In this case, Sally might want to argue that she had the intension of making the agreement binding based on the wording of the letter, which stated that “will buy your books, I assume you will take check?”. What would strengthen the case of Sally is the fact that, despite Barry having received the letter, a day earlier than he had noted in his advertisement, Sally would not certainly be responsible for the delay of the letter. The mailbox rule considers a service by mail complete by the time an individual mails the letter regardless of whether the recipient received the mail at a later date. (Fisher, M. J., & Greenwood, D. G. 2007) The annexation of the law about mailing requires that when individual have the proof that the mail was indeed delivered in a person’s mail box, and then the law would consider the letter having been delivered in a timely manner. (Mau, S. D. 2010) But to put the matter into conclusion, it would not be correct to suggest that Sally made contract with Barry, since she missed a very critical part, which was the certainty that the letter went the correct mail box, which in this case was Barry’s mailbox. Is there a contract between Barry and Amrit? The case of Barry and Amrit will be examined in two perspectives. First, is the supposed performance of the act of intending to have the agreement binding, and secondly, t asses if indeed Berry had an agreement with Amrit. Like had been examined earlier, to claim a contract, some performance must have been made which is in tandem with the terms of agreement. In that case, the recourse of the courts would not necessarily be needed because it is assumed that each party is aware of their duties and rights. According to Barry, those who were to notify Barry were supposed to make such notification through the address, which he had given in the advertisement. That statement in itself disqualifies Amrit’s act as part of the contract. In his case he went ahead to drop the notification on Barry’s box without the use of the address. This means that the terms of the offer were not met. In favour of Amrit, one might make an argument that he made the notification anyway. Based on the mailbox rule, regardless of whether Amrit’s letter slid under the table, the case would favor his action of having placed the letter in Barry’s box. This is because Amrit did that in time, where the time in this case is 2nd of October. But further analysis of Amrit’s case would destabilize his case. For a mailbox rule to stand the test of legal requirement, it needs to prove two main facts that Amrit’s actions do not meet. In the first instance, there is no proof that it was Barry’s box in which Amrit placed the letter. This defense position is supported by the fact that the letter was not, in the first place found in Barry’s box. It therefore means that Amrit’s case against Barry is weak. The mailbox rule require that the timing should and must be counted based on absolute understanding that the letter box was indeed the one that was referred to by the mailer. (Mulcahy, L. 2008) The second argument which Barry might use in his defense against Amrit, is that there would be no proof that the letter had accurate date, the date which would state that indeed the letter was mailed on 2nd of October. Amrit’s letter would be considered as a hand delivery and as such, the accuracy of the date of delivery would not be verifiable, a situation which makes the Amrit’s argument invalid. Insofar as Barry had received the letter on 4th of October, he was not bound to honour such agreement since he had stated that he was to be notified by the use of the address he had offered. Any alteration of such statement would mean that individuals who had to comply with his request would feel betrayed. The case does not demonstrate the time by which Barry had checked his mailbox and so, regardless of whether he was receiving Amrit’s letter as the first letter, there would be probability that some letters were still on the way. Besides, the date of notification should be the date when letters were mailed. Such that even if another student made his mailing on 4th of October, still it would be clear that such students notified Barry in time as he had requested. Is there contract between Barry and Kevin? The contract between Barry and Kevin is a solid contract. This is because there was no reference made on the advertisement. The deal that they agreed upon with Kevin was a new deal altogether. Even if Kevin referred to the advertisement which Barry had made, he still would not qualify to make a contract that included half of the price. Kevin could therefore not make a claim of breach of contract considering that the original contract he made with Barry was a different contract altogether. Can Kevin Claim half the purchase price back based on the advertisement? No, this is a claim that Kevin would not successfully make. Considering that the contract they made was not in reference to the advertisement he made. Assuming that Barry had sets of books, then Kevin may not claim that the set that Barry referred to, was the same set he had sold to him. It is based on this case that one would say that Barry did not breach any contract, including with Sally and Amrit, since Barry would as well make defense on the ground of having sets of books. PART B When was the contract formed between Belinda and Sherwood Rapid Transit? I would advice Belinda that there was no contract made between her and Sherwood Rapid Transit Plc. Though Belinda had always used the train, the policies of the company were bound to change at some point. (Taylor, R., & Taylor, D. 2007) This means that Belinda needed to know the company policies before she complied with the contract. It is therefore clear that the company denied Belinda the opportunity to make a decision on whether to use the train or not. Besides, the policies upon which Belinda would rely were not on display as at the time Belinda was taking the train. What is the nature of the notice displayed on the platform at the train? The nature of the notice displayed on the platform is a Release Statement. It allows the company to release themselves from any responsibility that is beyond control of the companies or its employee apart from the negligence that may be created by the company or any of its employees. (Turner, C. 2006) Can Belinda claim compensation for her injuries? Since Belinda is in possession of the ticket that was issued by the company, and the company used automated machine, which did not give Belinda opportunity to make inquiry on what possibly would be written on the ticket, Belinda has a right to claim compensation. Any of this compensation should be made outside the company’s compensation policy, since Belinda had no chance to access the offer the company made. She can therefore claim compensation based on the degree of the injury she obtained. On another account, the Train policies do not classify people on board as part of the losses or damages. This means that compensation that should be made by the company on Belinda’s injury should refer to the health insurance policy that covers Belinda. The company shall therefore be forced to cater for her injuries. Can Belinda claim compensation for the damages for her camera? Since there was no contract between Belinda and the company, her camera is not covered in the compensation policy. She therefore has to make a separate claim, just like she did with her injury. Such claim rests with the evaluation of the courts and their view on how the company should treat the case of Belinda. (Willmott, L., & Christensen, S. 2005) Ideally, she cannot build a case based on the company policy of compensation. Work Cited Andrews, N. (2011). Contract law. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Barker, D. L., & Padfield, C. F. (2002).Law (11th ed.). Oxford: Made Simple. Bastiat, F. (1950). The law. Irvington-on-Hudson, New York: Foundation for Economic Education. Beale, H. G., & Tallon, D. (2002).Contract law. Oxford [England: Hart Pub.. Blackwell, A. (2010). Law. New York: Ferguson. Carter, J. W., & Peden, E. (2007).Contract law in Australia (5th ed.). Chatswood, N.S.W.: LexisNexis Butterworths. Elliott, C., & Quinn, F. (2007). Contract law (6th ed.). Harlow: Pearson Longman. Fisher, M. J., & Greenwood, D. G. (2007).Contract law in Hong Kong. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. Kleinknecht, H., & Gutbrod, W. (1962).Law. London: A. & C. Black Mau, S. D. (2010). Property law in Hong Kong an introductory guide. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. Mulcahy, L. (2008). Contract law in perspective (5th ed.). London: Routledge-Cavendish. Rehwoldt, S. (2005). Law. Detroit: Lucent Books. Taylor, R., & Taylor, D. (2007). Contract law. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Turner, C. (2006). Contract law. London: Hodder Arnold. Willmott, L., & Christensen, S. (2005).Contract law (2nd ed.). South Melbourne, Victoria, Australia: Oxford University Press. . Read More