CONTRACT AND LEGISLATION

CONTENTS
I - Definition.
II- The Elements of a Contract
III - Oral Contracts
I - Definition.
agreement between two or more parties, in relation to a particular subject.
Contracts can cover an extremely wide range of matters
II - The Elements of a Contract
Typically, in order to be enforceable, a contract must involve the following
elements:
1- Offer and Acceptance
An offer is defined as the intention to enter in a sale
The contract involves an offer (or more than one offer)" to another party, who
accepts the offer.
Acceptance of an offer can occur in several ways: Acceptance of an offer is agree
on the terms proposed by the offerer An acceptance must not change the terms of
an offer. If it does, the offer is rejected A material change in a proposed contract
constitutes a counteroffer, which must be accepted by the other party.
Please note that a counter-offer is not an acceptance, and will typically be treated
as a rejection of the offer.
An offer need not be made to a specific person.
A person can withdraw the offer that has been proposed before that offer is
accepted. For withdrawal to be effective, the person who has proposed the offer
must communicate to the other party that the offer has been withdrawn.

2- A "Meeting of the Minds" (Mutual Consent)

The parties to the contract shall have a mutual understanding of what the contract
covers.
3 - Intention to create legal relations
The parties to the agreement must intend to enter into a legally binding agreement..
For example, offering a friend a ride in your car is not usually intended to create a
legally binding relation.
4- Consideration
Consideration is the price paid for the promise of the other party. The price must
be something of value, although it need not be money.
So long as consideration exists, the court will not question its adequacy,
5- Legal Capacity
Not all people are completely free to enter into a valid contract. The contracts of
the groups of people listed below involve problematic consent,
people who have a mental impairment;

young people (minors);

bankrupts;
corporations (people acting on behalf of a company); and
Prisoners.

6- Mutual Consideration (The mutual exchange of something of value)

The parties must agree to the same thing, in the same sense, at the same time. The
determination of a meeting of their minds, In determining whether mutual assent is
present, the court looks to the communications between the parties and to the facts
and circumstances surrounding this communications. The offer must be clear and
definite just as there must be a clear and definite acceptance of all terms contained
in the offer.
To be enforceable, the parties must have agreed on the essential terms of the
contract.
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Any contract or mutual understanding between parties that differs materially from
the original offer is open to legal challenge.
While the validity of consideration may be subject to attack on the basis that it is
illusory (e.g., one party receives only what the other party was already obligated to
provide), or that there is a failure of consideration (e.g., the consideration received
by one party is essentially worthless), these defenses will not let a party to a
contract escape the consequences of bad negotiation.
7- Performance or Delivery
In order to be enforceable, the action contemplated by the contract must be
completed.
8- Good Faith
It is implicit within all contracts that the parties are acting in good faith. For
example, if the seller of a "B.M.W" knows that the buyer thinks he is purchasing a
car, but secretly intends to sell the buyer a horse, the seller is not acting in good
faith and the contract will not be enforceable.
9- No Violation of Public Policy "Legal Purpose"
The objective of the contract must be for a legal purpose. For example, a contract
for illegal distribution of drugs is not a binding contract because the purpose for
which it exists is not legal.
Please note that public policy can shift.

III - Oral Contracts

There is an old joke that "an oral contract isn't worth the paper it's written on".
That's a reference to the fact that it can be very difficult to prove that an oral
contract exists. Absent proof of the terms of the contract, a party may be unable to
enforce the contract or may be forced to settle for less than the original bargain.
at the same time, under most circumstances, if the terms of an oral contract can be
proved or are admitted by the other party, an oral contract is every bit as
enforceable as one that is in writing.

Tenders:
If someone makes an open tender for the suppliers to provide him with a particular
good, so this considered an open invitation. but in the same time it is not binding
by nature, unless the tender binds himself by an expressed statement herein we
have to different example
Advertisements
some traders makes an advertise as an example the trader states that he is willing to
sell a good, this not by itself a contract but it is named "Invitation to treat" in some
cases this advertise may be considered as a contract the major point to distinguish
between "Invitation to treat" and a contract is the existence of a binding intention,
the binding intention is a very difficult point to prove and the surrounding
circumstances shall be a very important guide
Auction sales
Some people organize auctions in order to sell some goods, the law and courts
differentiate between auction announcing and auction start, unless the auction did
not start the auctioneer can cancel it and withdraw the products "
Negotiation for sale of land
The sale of land have a very special treatment by the courts as it is a deal which is
full of details and needs a lot of negotiations as to make the details clear and
agreed upon.