[Law101-Private Law] Introduction + First element of a Contract [Series 1 - Part 1]
Hi Fellow Steemians
This will be the first of many posts that will go through what many consider to be a complex and difficult field, the legal system. I'll be presenting all the information in a relatively easy to read, dot point format. If you need anything to be explained further, just comment below :)
What is Private Law?
- It's the law regulating relationships between people
- Exists to assist citizens in disputes that involve private matters
- More specific scope than public law (Public law is regarding the regulation of people and the state)
- Action under an independent legal entity
The Sources of Private Law
- Constitution
- Common law (CL)
- The unwritten law derived from the traditional law of England as developed by judicial precedence, interpretation, expansion, and modification
- You don't need a statute behind it
- Equity
- Separate jurisdiction, developed alongside CL, designed to deal with gaps in CL
- Statute
- Plays a significant role in the field of private law
- Customary law
Examples of Private Law
- Contract law - Governs the rights and obligations of those entering into contracts
- Tort law - Governs rights, obligations, remedies provided to someone who has been wronged by another individual
- Property law - Governs forms of property ownership, transfer and tenant issues
- Succession law - governs the transfer of an estate between parties
- Family law - governs family and domestic related issues
Contracts
There are four essential elements necessary for contract formation: agreement, consideration, certainty, and intention to create legal relations.
Agreement
Under this subsection, there are two element: Offer and Acceptance.
Offer
The nature of an offer
- An offer is the expression to another of a willingness to be legally bound by the stated terms
- An offer is a communication, having sufficient definiteness to eliminate the need for further negotiation, and creating the impression of manifest intent to enter into a contract
- Conveys to other party, that you are willing to be bound by acceptance
- Proposal only amounts to an offer if person making it indicates acceptance is invited + will conclude the agreement between the parties
- A communication which 'uses the language of command' and 'peremptorily requests' the other party to adopt a particular course of action may not be regarded an offer
- In determining whether offer has been made, crucial issue is whether it would appear to a reasonable person in the position of the offeree that an offer was intended, and that a binding agreement would be made upon acceptance
Elements of an offer
A valid offer:
- Must be communicated by the offeror to the offeree
- May be made to a particular person, a group or persons, or to the entire world
- Must be clear and unequivocal
- Must be distinguished from 'mere puffs', a request for further information and 'invitations to treat'
When does a proposal or a suggestion become an offer?
An offer is ineffective until it is communicated by the offeror to the offeree. If the offeree is unaware of the offer then it would be impossible to accept it
How is an offer distinguished from an invitation to treat?
An invitation by one party to commence negotiations, which may or may not lead to an offer
- The person that responds to the invitation to treat is the one making the offer and this can be accepted/rejected
- Difference between an offer and an Invitation to Treat depends upon the objective intention of the parties
For example: A display of goods for sale --> Are invitations to treat even though there may be price tag attached
Revocation of an offer
Lapse of Time
- An offer remains open until offeree accepts it or it lapses
- After lapsing, it no longer legally exists and offeree can no longer accept it
- If offeror has specified a date/time that offer will lapse, once this has passed, offer ends and offeree is unable to accept it to form an agreement
- If not date/time specified, offer will lapse after a 'reasonable' time
- What is reasonable depends on the circumstances
Termination of an offer
An offer can be withdrawn at any time before acceptance
- To be a valid withdrawal of offer, there needs to be actual communication of the withdrawal to the offeree. Revocation is ineffective until communicated to offeree
I'll end the first part here. The next part of the series will be on the second half of the Agreement element (Acceptance) and then will follow through with the next element of a contract.
If you have any suggestions for improvement or questions comment below!