Rules on Formation of Contracts

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In order for a contract to be formed, there are various requirements. These are offer, acceptance, consideration, and the intention to create legal relations. A contract may also be terminated.

There are two types of offer; specific and general. Specific offers are those made by one person or group of people who can choose to accept, and general offers are made to a generalised majority, such as in rewards and public advertisements. In the case of CARLILL v CARBOLIC SMOKE BALL, a general offer had been made, as it was a publicised advert. The company did not comply with the terms that it had stated; therefore the court held that the contract had been breached as an offer had been made. It was rightly decided that most offers require verbal or written acceptance. This requirement wasn't present in the case of WILKIE v LONDON PASSENGER TRANSPORT BOARD, as it was unclear of how and where the contract had been formed on the bus journey. From this case, it would seem that it may be necessary for a verbal or written acceptance to be compulsory in the formation of every contract, however this may prove difficult. In the case of FISHER v BELL, it had to be decided whether an offer had been made, or whether it was an invitation to treat. This comes before the offer. In this case it was decided that an offer hadn't been made, as generally displays in shop windows are not offers. This was later confirmed in the case of MELLA v MONAHAN. Problems can arise when deciding whether or not an offer has been made, such as in the case of GIBSON v MANCHESTER CITY COUNCIL, however generally the courts work with efficient rules to produce efficient results.

Once an offer has been made, the next stage of the formation of a contract is a...

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...verdict of the contract still being in tact as the death didn't affect the contract, as the connection wasn't personal. It is also possible for an offer to be withdrawn at any time before acceptance. This rule can cause complications, as it did in ERRINGTON v ERRINGTON, when a withdrawal occurred whilst the couple were in the process of accepting. However, the courts were able to reach a reasonable verdict in saying that once the couple had completed paying instalments the house was theirs, as acceptance was an ongoing act. If there has been a failure of a pre condition then the offer is no longer capable of acceptance, like in FINANCINGS LTD v STIMSON.

From the evidence above, it would seem that although some complications can occur in certain cases when looking at the formations of contracts, the rules that are provided generally produce accurate results.

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