2012

Running head: An overlook of contracts through case study

AN OVERLOOK OF CONTRACT THROUGH CASE STUDY

International law

Contracts- Cases

Understanding contractual law through cases Ganapathy Namasivayam Reg No. 12-2013 THE CTL EURO COLLEGE

Professor: Dr. Andreas Constantinou INTERNATIONAL LAW (IBL 601) THE CTL EURO COLLEGE

International law

Contracts- Cases

a) i. Anthony promises to give 1000 to his daughter Erica if she successfully completes her law degree. Erica successfully completes her law degree. Anthony refuses to give her 1000. Advice Erica of her legal position. Solution: The above case is a part of domestic binding between the family member and should be sorted out by themselves as the contract is not legally valid (Chris Turner, 2007) Legal advice for Erica: As in this casa Ericas father, Anthony said that he will pay a sum of 1000 to her daughter on her successful completion of the law degree. The reason Ericas father said maybe to motivate his daughter to do better in her law degree. The contract between them is a domestic contract and only if there were any witness at the time the contract was made then Erica has legal rights. But, in the above case, the situation is not clear whether any witness was there or not. Moreover, the contract is purely family agreement and as said by Chris Turner it should be sorted out by them as the contract is not legally valid. In this case Erica has no legal rights against her father.

ii. Christina offers to sell her car for 8,000 to Stavros. Stavros is willing to buy her car but for 7,500. Christina refuses and Stavros, after Christinas refusal, accepts the original offer of 8,000 but Christina refuses again. Advice Christina and Stavros for their respective legal rights. Solution: In the above case when Christina offered to sell her car for 8,000, Stavros didnt accept the offer by placing a counter-offer for 7,500 and thereby rejected the original offer. Later, Stavros though accepted the original price to buy the car Christina refused to sell her car and there by she rejected the offer placed by Stavros. In this case it is clear that Stavros has no legal

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rights against Christina for refusing the offer placed by him. Christina has all the rights either to sell the car to Stavros or to anybody. b) Bob wishes to buy a sports car. Bobs father Andrew promises Bob that he will pay for any car Bob chooses up to the amount of 20,000. Catherine, who is a car dealer, reassures Bob that the second-hand Corvette which is on sale in her show room is only six years old. Bob agrees with Catherine to buy the Corvette for 20,000 which Bob promises shall be paid to Catherine by Andrew. Bob takes the car but Andrew refuses to pay any amount to Catherine. Bob later discovers that his newly bought corvette is in fact 10 years old. Advice Andrew, Bob and Catherine as to their legal rights and obligations. Solution: First of all the contract between Bob and Andrew was a domestic relationship and as said by Chris Turner earlier the contract is not valid and should be sorted out by themselves. Now, as per the case above, the promised rendered by Andrew led Bob to purchase a car for the amount specified by his father and made a contract with Catherine for the same. Legal rights for Bob: Bob has no right against his father Andrew as the contract between is domestic contract and is not valid. Though Andrew had promised Bob to lend the money to purchase the car and if we assume that the witnesses were there then Bob has the legal right against his father. Bob has a legal right to sue Catherine as the car she sold to him was not the specifications as asked by him and she sold the older car to him. The contract between Catherine and Bob is legally valid and Bob has the right to take legal action against her. Legal rights of Catherine: As per the legal rights of Catherine, she has no right to sue Andrew for the money she has to get as she had never met Andrew or any legal contract had been framed between the two. Catherine also has no legal right to sue Bob as because the car she sold to him was not the specifications he 4

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asked and she sold another car of 10 years old. Now she has no right to sue Andrew or Bob and has no legal right against Andrew and if she file a case against Bob she has to face the consequences. Legal rights of Andrew:

For Andrew, as he promised he has to give money to his son Bob and not to Catherine. The promise made by Andrew is a domestic relationship and he didnt promise to Catherine for the payment. So he cannot be sued by Catherine and Bob also has no right to sue his father Andrew and the problem has to be sorted out by them only. Andrew cannot be sued by Catherine as he didnt make any contract with her directly.
c) i. Maria offers Sam a room in his hotel for 50.00 but insists that Sam accepts by midday

the next day in writing. Sam drives round to Jules hotel the next day but because of heavy traffic does not arrive until 2.00 pm to pass over his letter of acceptance. Advice Maria and Sam of their legal rights. Solution: The case is not clear as whether Maria accepted or rejected Sams letter of acceptance. As in this case if we assume that Maria didnt accepted Sams letter of acceptance, Sam have no rights to sue Maria as he had already been signed the contract stating that he can avail the room only if he can come by Midday or else the offer or contract will be terminated. Though the reason for his late was the heavy traffic, it is not valid as the written contract was already made. ii. Tim sends money for some shoes from a mail order catalogue company but the company has run out of the shoes in his size. They return his money. Advice Tim of his legal rights.
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International law Solution:

Contracts- Cases

In the above case the contract comes under Distance Selling Contract and not a written contract. If the company didnt delivered the goods as ordered by Tim or delivered damaged goods he has the right to either change the goods with freight charges bearable by the company or he can sue them. But in this case the company had ran out of stocks and were unable to provide the shoes they had mentioned and due to the same reason they have returned the money and Tim has no legal rights to sue the company.
d) i. John sees a car displayed on a garage forecourt with a sticker on the windscreen For

Sale 999. He walks in and says to the manager that he is buying the car for 999. The manager refuses to sell it to him. Does John have any contractual right to the car? Solution: In the above case, John has his rights as the sale have been displayed on the windscreen of a particular car. Though it seems an invitation to treat it is considered an offer as it is very specific and the manager of the garage cant refuse to give the car to John. If the car was sold then the manager should have displayed with the sticker as sold but he didnt do that also. There was no valid reason for the refusal and John also accepted the offer rendered by the offerer without placing the counter offer. In this case John has all the rights to sue the manager of the garage. ii. Sally agrees that her cousin can come and stay with her whilst she is in the UK on a holiday from her home in Australia. A week before her cousin arrives in the UK Sally asks her boyfriend to move in with her and the room is no longer available. Advice Sally and her cousin of their legal rights.

International law Solution:

Contracts- Cases

When analyzing the above case, as far as we consider with the humanity the work Sally did was wrong and her cousin have all the rights to sue her but everything need evidence. If Sallys cousin asked the permission from her aunt in written format either through letter or email then she had the right to sue her. In this modern world everybody are making phone calls and if Sallys cousin had did the same way then she has no evidence for the contract and so she cannot sue her aunt. When we consider about the legal rights of Sally, she has all the rights to against her cousin if she had informed about the arrival of her boyfriend. If she had said that to her cousin then she can do and also if we consider in this case that there was no evidence when the oral contract was made (due to the fact that both live in different countries) then she cannot be sued by her cousin.

e) Helen took a dress to be cleaned at Marios Dry Cleaners. Before accepting the dress,

Marios asked Helen to sign a contract, which contained a disclaimer for all damage of any kind. Helen signed the contract without reading its term. When Helen picked up her dress a week later, she discovered that the dress was stained. Advice Helen of her legal rights. Solution: The above case is very clear that Helen has already signed the contract that she has no right to claim in case of any damage. But in the case it is not given the age of Helen and if we consider Helens age to be eighteen she has no right to sue Marios. Though stain is not a kind of damage, Helen has no right to sue Marios as she has already signed the contract. As per the law any written document that has been signed either read or not read
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is valid and the person has no right to sue the other unless if she prove that Marios forced her to sign then she has all the rights to sue Marios.

International law References

Contracts- Cases

Turner, C. (2007). Principles of Formation: Intention to Create Legal Relations. Contract law (2nd ed., pp. 38-39). London: Hodder Arnold.

Turner, C. (2007). Contract law (2nd ed.). Abingdon, Oxon: Hodder Education