Contract Law - Lecture 13a Term 1 Revision Role of contract law Enforcing promises, regulating the market and facilitating exchanges . It informs parties of what they are expected to do as regards a contract. . It specifies the interpretation of the contents of a contract. . It clarifies what will happen if the contract is not performed. . It encourages performance by establishing remedies in cases of breach. Analysing contracts - the courts approach · The courts adopt an objective approach. · VTB Capital Plc v Nutritek Int'l Corpn [2013] UKSC 5, per Lord Neuberger- Objectivity is one of the most fundamental principles on which contractual liabilities and rights are based. · Emphasis is placed on the outward impression and not on the subjective meaning. . The Hannah Blumenthal [1983] Offer . A promise or indication by a party that he/she is prepared to enter into contract with another party, on certain terms. . The terms of the offer need to be clear. · An offer can be contained in spoken words, a document, a letter, email communication or an advertisement. · A simple 'yes' to an offer will lead to a binding contract. · Preliminary communications in which parties only wish to open negotiations is 'invitation to treat' · Gibson v Manchester City Council [1979]- o 'The Corporation may be prepared to sell the house to you ... ' Advertisements Partridge v Crittenden [1968] · Mr Partridge placed an advert in a periodical which indicated he had bramblefinches for sale at 25s each. . He was charged with contravention of s.6 of the Protection of Birds Act 1954- offering the sale of a wild bird. · Was this an offer? No. · Limited Stock Argument- Lord Parker- If an advert was considered an offer, it means that everyone who accepts the offer will be entitled to the goods offered and if there is not an unlimited supply of the goods in question, then that cannot be the intention of the advertiser. Unless an advert is coming from a manufacturer, it makes business sense to consider it an invitation to treat and not an offer. Lefkowitz v Great Minneapolis Surplus Stores 1957 . the advertisement here was held to be an offer.
Unilateral offers · A unilateral offer is created when a party promises to do something if another party does a particular (specified) thing. . If the other party does the particular thing, that is 'performance', that party has thereby accepted the unilateral offer. . Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball Co [1893] · The manufacturers of a 'smoke ball' published an advert during the influenza epidemic, claiming their product could cure all kinds of ailments. · They stated anyone who bought it, used it as directed and then caught influenza, would be paid £100 from the company. . The court held it was an offer to 'the world'. Acceptance . A final and unqualified assent to all the terms of an offer. . Must be unequivocal, unconditional and