Discuss the issues of contract law that arise
Question 1: Discuss the issues of contract law that arise.
1. The main legal issue in the case is whether the contract has been formed and Daphne is subjected to contract and obligated to pay £200 to Sonya for the TV.
The law of contract regarding offer acceptance states that in order to form a contract, the acceptance must be unconditional (Black 2011) . Counter-offer is a response to an offer which, while not expressly rejecting the offer, seeks to qualify it by deleting some of the terms. The example of counter-offer effect is Wolf and Wolf v Forfar Potato Co Ltd (1984) case. A potato merchant in Scotland made an offer by telex to sell products in international market. A merchant in Netherlands accepted the offer, but with some added conditions . The Scottish potato merchant did not perform the contract(did not reply). It was sued for breach of contract. The judges Lord Wheatley, Lord McDonald and Lord Robertson decided in favour of Scottish potato merchant, as counter-offers that was made in response to an offer, lapsed the original offer.
Daphne’s first ‘acceptance’ was counter-offer, because she imposed new conditions by offering £200 for the TV. Therefore, offeree conditional acceptance to the proposition is taken as a rejection to the original offer. Moreover, Daphne’s proposal is a fresh offer for Sonya to consider. After that, Sonya rejected the offer, saying she will only accept £250 for the TV. Rejection to an offer causes it to lapse. Sonya regretted her decision but unfortunately by changing her mind Sonya cannot issue a legally binding acceptance. Therefore the request to accept £200 for the TV constitutes an invitation to treat.
To conclude, there was no contract between Daphne and Sonya. As a result, Sonya should not take any legal or self helped actions, as binding contract was not formed.
2. The main legal issue in this case is whether there is binding contract between two parties.
In relation to contracts concluded in Scotland law
1. The main legal issue in the case is whether the contract has been formed and Daphne is subjected to contract and obligated to pay £200 to Sonya for the TV.
The law of contract regarding offer acceptance states that in order to form a contract, the acceptance must be unconditional (Black 2011) . Counter-offer is a response to an offer which, while not expressly rejecting the offer, seeks to qualify it by deleting some of the terms. The example of counter-offer effect is Wolf and Wolf v Forfar Potato Co Ltd (1984) case. A potato merchant in Scotland made an offer by telex to sell products in international market. A merchant in Netherlands accepted the offer, but with some added conditions . The Scottish potato merchant did not perform the contract(did not reply). It was sued for breach of contract. The judges Lord Wheatley, Lord McDonald and Lord Robertson decided in favour of Scottish potato merchant, as counter-offers that was made in response to an offer, lapsed the original offer.
Daphne’s first ‘acceptance’ was counter-offer, because she imposed new conditions by offering £200 for the TV. Therefore, offeree conditional acceptance to the proposition is taken as a rejection to the original offer. Moreover, Daphne’s proposal is a fresh offer for Sonya to consider. After that, Sonya rejected the offer, saying she will only accept £250 for the TV. Rejection to an offer causes it to lapse. Sonya regretted her decision but unfortunately by changing her mind Sonya cannot issue a legally binding acceptance. Therefore the request to accept £200 for the TV constitutes an invitation to treat.
To conclude, there was no contract between Daphne and Sonya. As a result, Sonya should not take any legal or self helped actions, as binding contract was not formed.
2. The main legal issue in this case is whether there is binding contract between two parties.
In relation to contracts concluded in Scotland law
References: Gillian., B, 2011. Business Law in Scotland. 2nd Ed. Edinburgh: Thomson Reuters MacIntyre E., Bisacre, J., 2013. Scottish Business Law. Essex: Pearson Education Ltd