Advise on the Legal Rights of Julian and Anna - Case Study Example

Title: Business Law Name: Registration No: Course Code: Date Due: Introduction During the process of conducting any business, a business owner must enter into contract with clients in the manner in which the promises made during the contract can be achieved. The business owner must make promises to clients to the level that the promises can be achieved. This is because there are a number of legislations involved in legislation of business activities (Blum 2007). These laws explain the manner in which a business man or woman needs to enter into contract and the penalties associated with failure to comply with the promises made. In addition, the business laws explain measures that can be taken by the complainant so that their complaints are addressed (Bose 2008). In this case study, it is found that a couple had entered into a business contract with an island resort operator. The resort operator in this case failed to meet a number of promises made to the clients. As a result, there are a number of actions that can be taken by the couple to ensure their complaints are addressed and they receive fair treatment in the case. This is achieved by explaining an a number of elements of a business contract that the couple should use to support their complaints as well as seek justice for the disservice they received from the tourist resort operator. The couple involved in this case is Julian and Anna who are celebrating their 20th anniversary since their wedding while the island resort operator is called Sandra. The following are legislations which explain the nature of contract that the couple were involved in. Advise on the legal rights of Julian and Anna Intention of creating legal relations An example of an element of a contract that can be used to seek justice in this case is intention. This is because intention involves creation of legal binding contracts between parties. The intention element states that if two or more parties are involved in a contract for a business-related activity, it is required that that the party that is offended can sue the other party when that party does not comply with the provisions of the contract (Colombi and Weatherill 2010). This element can only be rejected when the parties involves expressly state that they are not involved in a legal contract. An example of a case where the element of intention was applied is the Kleinwort Benson v Malaysia Mining Corporation Bhd in 1989 where it was found that the court declined to assent to the complaint of Kleinwort Benson when the bank provided a loan to MMC metals, a subsidiary of MMC but the bank charged a high amount of interest which could not be paid back by MMC metals. Since MMC metals were a subsidiary of MMC, the bank sought payment from MMC (Tepper 2012). However, MMC declined to pay the bank because it was its policy that MMC metals had to meet its liabilities under the arrangements. Court ruled in favor of MMC because there was no intention to make a contract between Kleinwort Benson Bank and MMC and there was no guarantee that MMC was supposed to pay the interest to the loan. In the case of Julian and Anna and Sandra, there was a binding contract that the couple would pay for the services that included reef diving and eating cakes cooked by an Australian chef. In return, Sandra was supposed to ensure these services were provided to the couple. Thus, there was a binding relationship between the couple and Sandra. Thus the fact that Sandra failed to provide these services shows that she did not comply with intention element of a business contract. Julian and Anna can use this element to support their effort to seek justice from court. Acceptance Acceptance is an element of a contract that states that when there is an agreement between two people, there should be a moment when the contract comes into being. The acceptance components of a contract imply that there must be ‘mirror image’ components of an agreement (Craig 2009). Acceptance must take place in response to an offer. An example of a case that involved acceptance is R v Clarke – rewards (1927) 40 CLR 227 Australian High Court where there was a promise by court that a reward would be provided for any person who provided the information that would contribute to the arrest of the people who contributed to the deaths of the policemen. Clarke gave the information but his claim for the reward was not granted. This is because; his intention for giving the evidence was to protect himself from being involved in the murder. He only thought of claiming the reward after arrest, conviction and appeal by others. In the case study, it is found that Sandra promised to provide free diving experience, Australian prepared cakes and secure accommodation when Anna and Julian accepted. Thus, there was a contractual agreement which involved the element of acceptance. This implies that Sandra was supposed to fulfill her promise to the couple failure to which the couple could seek legal claims for breach of contract. Consideration Another element of a contract that can be used by Julian and Anna to support their effort to seek justice is consideration. Consideration is defined as a good or service that has value. It can also be defined as something that involves rights; interests or benefit of one party as a result of forbearance, loss, responsibilities after a particular promise has been accomplished (Cross, Miller, Cross and Cross 2012). Consideration in a contract is performed when activities in a contract has been completed. Furthermore, consideration is important in ensuring a party enforces a particular promise. Various characteristics have been used to describe consideration such as the ability to move from the promisor. This implies that consideration for a promised can only be enforced when a party has paid for it. An example of a case is Tweddle v Atkinson in 1861 where there was an agreement that John Tweddle would pay the child of William Guy a particular amount of money while William Guy also promised that he would pay a particular amount of money to John Tweddle’s son if their children got married (Miller and Jentz 2011). When the marriage took place, William Guy failed to pay the son of John Tweddle, who sued William Guy for failing to fulfill his part of the contract. However, the court declined to consent to the payment of money to the son of John Tweddle because there was no consideration that existed between him and William Guy, and it was his father who had the reason to seek court redress. This consideration is an instance of privity of a contract, which is the requirement that only those involved in the contract can sue on the terms of a contract. Despite the requirement of the need for a consideration to move from the promise, it is not mandatory that it has to move to the promisor. In the case of Julian, Anna and Sandra, it is observed that both Anna and Julian were involved in a business agreement where there was consideration that Sandra would provide the couple with safe accommodation, Australian prepared cakes and reef diving. This is the consideration in this agreement. It is observed that Sandra, who is the promisee in this case, did not honor her promise of providing the couple with the consideration. Consequently, Julian and Anna have the right to sue Sandra so that the consideration can be enforced. Remedies There are also elements of a contract that are applicable when there are breaches of contract. Breach of a contract refers to a situation where one party fails to honor his or her obligation. The complaining party can apply the remedies element of a contract to seek justice (Enright 2002). In particular situations, damages to a contract are compensated by specific performance. The remedy can involve monetary benefits or where this is not possible; specific performance of a contract is required (Gray2014). An example of a case where breach of a contract required remedies involved Berryman v Kmoch in which Berryman provided Kmoch with the opportunity to get a real estate contract in exchange for ten dollars but the money was not paid. Berryman sold the estate before the expiry of the contract. The court decided that the contract was valid. This is because the contract was supported by a consideration, but there was application of the aspect of promise in the contract. Another case involved James Baird Co. v Gimbel bros. Inc where minority rule was used. The accused agreed that there was a contractor bid which the complainant relied upon during the calculation of the contract bid (Haidar 2011). The defendant found that there was a miscalculation of the bid and thus attempted to withdraw it. The complainant was awarded the contract as well as sued the defendant for the damages that were not executed. The court found that the aspect of promise applied and the contract could not be revoked by subcontracting it. In a similar manner, the case study shows that Sandra has breached the contract of providing them with exciting reef diving experience. In addition, she was unable to provide them with Australian chef prepared cakes and also failed to provide them with security. This resulted into the theft of Anna’s jewelry as well as the theft of Julian’s wallet. The couple can seek remedy for these damages by asking for a monetary reward equal to the value of the jewelry and the amount of money that was in the wallet. In addition, they can seek justice by asking the court to order Sandra to perform specific performance of providing them with alternative location where they can celebrate their anniversary or refund them the amount of money they had paid as a result of attending the resort at Whitsundays Island. References Blum, B. A. 2007. Contracts: Examples & explanations. Austin: Wolters Kluwer Law & Business. Bose, D. C. 2008. Business law. New Delhi: PHI Learning. Colombi, C. A., & Weatherill, S. 2010. Regulating unfair banking practices in Europe: The case of personal suretyships. Oxford [etc.: Oxford University Press. Craig, C. E. 2009. Basic labor and employment law for paralegals. Austin: Wolters Kluwer Law & Business. Cross, F. B., Miller, R. L. R., Cross, F. B., & Cross, F. B. 2012. The legal environment of business: Text and cases : ethical, regulatory, global, and corporate issues. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning. Enright, C. 2002. Legal technique. Annandale, N.S.W: Federation Press. Gray, D. 2014. Making money in real estate: The canadian guide to profitable investment in residential property, revised edition. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley. Haidar, A. D. 2011. Global claims in construction. London: Springer. Miller, R. L. R., & Jentz, G. A. 2011. Business law today: The essentials : text & summarized cases : e-commerce, legal, ethical, and international environment. Mason, OH: South- Western Cengage Learning. Tepper, P. R. 2012. The law of contracts and the Uniform commercial code. Clifton Park, NY: Delmar Cengage Learning. Cases Berryman v Kmoch James Baird Co. v Gimbel bros. Inc Kleinwort Benson v Malaysia Mining Corporation Bhd in 1989 R v Clarke – rewards (1927) 40 CLR 227 Australian High Court Tweddle v Atkinson in Read More