Contracts A contract is formed between two or more parties. In order for a
contract to be legally binding there must be offer and acceptance.
This simple basis for a contract is not as clear cut as it first
appears. In certain circumstances it is often necessary for the two
parties to the contract to communicate via post or by other indirect
means. This practise gives rise to the problem of whether an
acceptance is given when it is posted or when it is received. There is
also the issue of whether or not the person posting the acceptance
wilfully intended there to be a delay in delivery. The use of
electronic mail further ads to the complication as the courts must
decide whether or not electronic mail can be classified as
instantaneous communication.
Firstly, let us examine the postal rule in order to analyse its
possible applications to communication by electronic means. As already
stated, the two elements of a simple contract are the offer and the
acceptance. The acceptance will only have effect when it is given to
the offeror in response to his offer. Lord Herschell defines the
postal rule as:
“Where the circumstances are such that it must have been within the
contemplation of the parties that ... the post might be used as a
means of communicating the acceptance of an offer, the acceptance is
complete as soon as it is posted.”[1]
The postal rule is an exception to the general rule of ...
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[1] Lord Herschell
[2] Court of Appeal [1955] 2 Q.B. 327
[3] Smith & Thomas , A Case Book on Contract 11th Edition
[4] House of Lords [1983] 2 A.C 34
[5] Ibid footnote 1
[6] D. Stott “Should the Postal Acceptance Rule be applied to email?”
[7] D. Capp “You’ve got mail” NLJ 153.7084(906)
[8] (SI 2002/2013)
[9] Specifically the Uniform Computer Information Transaction Act 2000
[10] Court of Appeal (1879) 4 Ex. D 216
[11] (1818) 1 B. & A, 681
[12] 1 H.L.C 381
[13] Bramwell L.J in Household Fire Insurance Co. v Grant 1 H.L.C 381
The Mailbox Rule is an area of Utah state law that declares the contract to be effective once the person accepting terms of said contract delivers it to a mailbox. The buyers stated in Addendum No. 2 that if they had not heard back from the seller by 12 a.m. that day, they would consider their counteroffer accepted. The seller was aware of the Mailbox Rule and delivered the accepted contract to a mailbox at 10:15 p.m.. The seller then experienced a phenomenon known as seller’s remorse, and left a voice message for Jon and Marsha at 12:30 a.m., thirty minutes past the proposed
9. Woodgate, R., Black, A., Biggs, J., Owens, D. (2003). Legal Studies for Queensland, Volume 1, ForthEdition, Legal Eagle Publications: Queensland. 10. Woodgate, R., Black, A., Biggs, J., Owens, D. (2003).
...head?: Norms, freedom and acceptable terms in internet contracting’ (2010) 14 Journal of Internet Law 18-31
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An offer continues in existence, capable of acceptance until it is brought to an end.
This judgment given set criterion which is still been used in the modern court system and due to this case it was developed that an offer of contract can be unilateral and doesn’t have to be made to a specific party only. Also it was developed to that the acceptance of an offer does not require a notification and that once the concerned party purchases the product the contract is active then and there itself. And it was also established that purchase of an item is a fine example of consideration and therefore makes it a valid contract. (Smith, 2000).
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A contract actually starts when the other party makes an offer (offeror), and then it is accepted by
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