CONTRACT LAW

Contract Law



Contract Law

Case Analysis

There is a general principle in contract law that the parties may freely contract on whatever terms they wish. However, for this to be true there must be equality of bargaining power and where there is no such equality, the general assumption of freedom of contract is not so readily applied (for example, see the Consumer Credit Act 1974 s 173; the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977; and Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999, SI 1999/2083).

Further, the Courts have, using the principles of equity, seriously interfered with the notion of free-dom of contract, employing the rules of promissory estoppel, specific performance, injunction, con-sideration, undue influence and the notion of unconscionable bargains, and looking at the intention of the parties rather than the letter of the Contract in question (Halsbury's Laws of England: Contract: 613: Good Faith in English Law). (William & Nicholas 2005) In the context of English law, a reference to a promise here may be seen as misleading. It is often (rightly) stated that English law will not give effect to a mere promise and that an agreement, or meeting of minds, is required. In fact, this is simply a way of distinguishing between two types of promise, namely those which do and don't give rise to a legal duty. Thus, a promise to meet one's other half for dinner at 7pm gives rise to no legal obligation - it is a "mere" promise - whereas a promise to sell someone a car for £5000 gives rise to legal obligation. A legal duty arising from that promise. Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution of the UK provides to the populace of this countryside the basis of our monetary and finance system. Section 8 provides(Turner 2004) "The party shall have vitality to lay and receive taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to compensate the debts and deliver for the regular defense and complete welfare of the UK; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform as prolonged as the UK. (Kerr & Perdikis 2005: 75)

 Contract Law - Invitation to treat

What this page is about: When a offer isn't an offer and is instead an invitation to treat.

Law of Contract Home >> Contract Law Notes >> Formation of the Contract >> Invitation to Treat An invitation to treat is a mere declaration of willingness to enter into negotiations; it's not an offer1(Elliott 2005), and can't be accepted so regarding form a binding contract2.

In practice, the formation of a contract is frequently preceded by preliminary negotiations. Some of the exchanges in these negotiations contain no declaration at all, as where one party simply asks for information. Others may amount to invitations to the recipient to make an offer4, these being invitations to treat. (Richards 2004)

Therefore, a distinction must be drawn between those declarations which amount to offers, and those which only amount to invitations to treat. Sometimes, a particular type of declaration is, at least Prima facie, put into one or the other category by ...