Case Study
Name: Yazhou Xiao Student No: 10408026 Date: 01/11/2012 Module Code: M5213 Tutor: Geoffrey Farmiloe
This essay will aim to discuss the actions of Harvester Agricultural Machinery Co Ltd. In this case, the freight forwarding agent ‘Polaris Logistics PLC’ made an oral assurance with the importers (Harvester), but in once transport the Polaris breach the assurance and two of the Harvester’s containers were washed overboard in a storm. The claimant (Harvester) required the defendant (Polaris) to pay for the claiming damages of £5,000 which relied on the oral assurance, but Polaris said there was no contractual promise and they only relied on the printed terms and conditions. In order to analysis the Harvester’s actions, one first has to examine the contract law. Contract law is the law relative to the agreements or promises, to establish a legally binding contract, parties must reach an agreement which can be supported by consideration, and the agreement must be expressed in a form which is sufficiently certain for the law to enforce, moreover the parties should also have had an intention to create legal relations. When to decide whether the contract has come into being, it is necessary to prove that there has been an agreement between parties, in consequence, it must be shown that an offer was made by one party (offeror) which was accepted by the other party (offeree). The contract between Harvester and Polaris was expressed in standard trade terms. A contract is made by a number of terms, and the terms are obviously of great significance to the parties as terms define the parties’ right and liabilities. There are a variety of terms in common use and trade terms is just one. Generally, trade terms contain such as CIF (cost, insurance, freight) and FOB (free on board), they are primarily devise for mercantile convenience and
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