A Contract is an Enforcable Agreement by Law

1.0 Introduction
A contract is defined as ‘an agreement enforceable by law’, which means an agreement that is legally binding between two or more parties. The Contract Act 1950 governs legislation in Malaysia and differs from English Law in terms of provisions (Lee & Detta, 2009). The Law of Contract consists of five elements: offer and acceptance, intention to create legal relations (ITCLR), consideration, capacity, and free consent. The elements that apply in the case of Gabby and Lorna are offer and acceptance. An offer is divided into bilateral and unilateral offers. A bilateral offer is an agreement between two or more parties in a proposal. In contrast, a unilateral offer is between one individual and the whole world. Section 2(c) states that the first party who makes the proposal invites the other party is called the offeror, while the person who accepts the proposal from the offeror is called the offeree. For a proposal to be converted into a promise, the acceptance of the proposal must be absolute and unqualified, as stated in Section 7 of the Contracts Act. Section 4(1) says that an offer is effective once it is communicated by the offeror to the offeree, whether it is through oral or written means. In acceptance, Section 7(b) states that silence could amount to acceptance if both parties have precise and corresponding ways of communication, such as the postal rule. The postal rule is an exception to the communication rule. To apply the postal rule, both parties must have mutual correspondence and apply the general rule of acceptance that takes effect when it is posted. Hence, the offeror should mention to the offeree whether to reply or not reply to the offer given. The exception to the communication rule...
3.0 Conclusion
In conclusion, there is no valid contract between Lorna and Gabby. Although Lorna wrote a letter to Gabby offering the sale of her antique vase, acceptance did not occur, even though Gabby had emailed and posted the letter of acceptance to Lorna. This is because Gabby does not fulfill Lorna’s condition of ‘notice by writing,’ and communication did not occur between them, which leads to an exception to the postal rule. Due to these problems, Lorna had revoked her offer by writing a revocation letter to Gabby because she had sold the vase to Joshua. Gabby was informed about the revocation letter by her husband, Frank, and therefore the offer is terminated, and there is no agreement or valid contract between them. Hence, Lorna has not breached the contract, and Gabby cannot take any legal actions towards Lorna.