Contract law essay
every day people knowingly or unknowingly
Introduction
Every day people knowingly or unknowingly enter into series of contracts. This may be in the form of purchasing an article from a shop or by purchasing a railway ticket or by numerous ways. In modern societies, because of increasing complexity, there has been a practice of concluding contracts in standard form. One such instance of a standard form of contract is contract of insurance. Thus, standard form of contracts are those kinds of contracts were parties do not sit together to bargain the terms of the contract. One problem that is likely to arise with regard to standard form of contract is that they contain a large number of terms and conditions in fine print which restrict and often exclude liability under the contract. The individual in such cases have no option other than to accept the terms of the contract whether they like it or not.
This gives a unique opportunity for the companies and other authorities entering into standard form of contract with the individuals to exploit the weakness of the individual by imposing upon its terms which may go to the extent of exempting the party from all kinds of liability under the contract. In such cases, courts have found it difficult to rescue the weaker party because they have signed the contractual document. Such contracts have therefore been called “Contracts of Adhesion” which means that the individual has no choice but to accept the terms of the contract without negotiating.
Therefore, to help the individuals entering into such contract from being exploited by certain inherent conditions in the contract, Courts have evolved certain modes of protection. One such protective device is the theory or doctrine of fundamental breach. Fundamental breach simply means that if one party fails to perform the fundamental obligation for which the contract is formed, he will be guilty of a breach of the contract whether or not any exempting clause has been
Introduction
Every day people knowingly or unknowingly enter into series of contracts. This may be in the form of purchasing an article from a shop or by purchasing a railway ticket or by numerous ways. In modern societies, because of increasing complexity, there has been a practice of concluding contracts in standard form. One such instance of a standard form of contract is contract of insurance. Thus, standard form of contracts are those kinds of contracts were parties do not sit together to bargain the terms of the contract. One problem that is likely to arise with regard to standard form of contract is that they contain a large number of terms and conditions in fine print which restrict and often exclude liability under the contract. The individual in such cases have no option other than to accept the terms of the contract whether they like it or not.
This gives a unique opportunity for the companies and other authorities entering into standard form of contract with the individuals to exploit the weakness of the individual by imposing upon its terms which may go to the extent of exempting the party from all kinds of liability under the contract. In such cases, courts have found it difficult to rescue the weaker party because they have signed the contractual document. Such contracts have therefore been called “Contracts of Adhesion” which means that the individual has no choice but to accept the terms of the contract without negotiating.
Therefore, to help the individuals entering into such contract from being exploited by certain inherent conditions in the contract, Courts have evolved certain modes of protection. One such protective device is the theory or doctrine of fundamental breach. Fundamental breach simply means that if one party fails to perform the fundamental obligation for which the contract is formed, he will be guilty of a breach of the contract whether or not any exempting clause has been