Business Law

The essentials for legally enforceable contracts

And

The legal principles on “Offer and Acceptance” in the UK contract laws

Business Law

Introduction

The goal of the essay is to discuss the essentials for legally enforceable contracts and the legal principles on “Offer and Acceptance” in the UK contract laws. Most the views come from Study Guide. As I preparing for this essay I found some views make sense or their explanations are clearer, so I write here.

Main Body

Essentials of legally enforceable contracts

The legally enforceable contracts mainly have 4 essentials, and they are agreement, parties, obligations and objects. In the follows I will introduce them one by one.

Agreement

Agreement is essential to any contract and it can be found in the simplest of words or conduct. There must be a meeting of the minds, and must agree on the fundamental terms of contract. “For a contract to be binding there must be agreement between the parties to it on all material aspects. This means that if an offer is made then the acceptance must meet the offer.” [i]However, there are no particular words that must be used by the parties.

Whether the parties have reached an agreement can be determined by an objective standard. A bystander, acting reasonably, looking at all of the facts relevant to the questions conclude that the parties had come to an agreement on the essential terms of the contract with the intent to form a legally binding relationship.

The judicial precedent Wolf & Wolf v Forfar Potato Co Ltd (1984) is about: A Scottish Co sent a telex to Dutch Co offering to sell potatoes, but the Dutch Co sent a counter offer (see at Acceptance). After that, the Scottish Co says no and Dutch Co agrees with the original offer. The point is the Scottish Co ignored this agreement, and the Dutch Co failed to get potatoes. The Dutch Co took the Scottish Co to court for breach the contract, and the court held that no contract was formed....