GDL Contract Law Revision Notes(Distinction Level) 2023
GRADED A
Contract Law Notes
Agreement and Contractual Intention
Agreement:
In order for
... [Show More] parties to reach an agreement, one party must make an offer which is acceptedby the
other.
‘Offer’: Professor Treitel: ‘an expression of willingness to contract on certain terms, madewith the
intention that it shall become binding as soon as it is accepted by the person to whom it is addressed.’
‘Offeror’: Person who makes the offer. ‘Offeree’:
Person to whom the offer is made.
‘Expression’: May take different forms, e.g. a letter, newspaper advertisement, fax and conduct, as
long as it communicates the basis on which the offeror is prepared to contract.
‘Intention’: Does not necessarily mean the offeror’s actual intention. Smith v Hughes: Objective test.
Courts look at what was said and done between the parties, from the pointof view of a ‘reasonable
person’, and try to decide what a reasonable person would have thought was going on.
Allied Marine Transport: If the offeror so acts that his conduct, objectively considered, constitutes an
offer, and the offeree, believing the conduct of the offeror represents hisactual intention, accepts the
offer, then a contract will come into existence. Subjective element of the offeree must believe the
offeror intended to make an offer.
Offer or Invitation to Treat:
Offers are distinct from inviting negotiation E.g. ‘I am thinking of selling my car, £7,000 would be a
realistic asking price, would you be interested in buying it?’ – An ‘invitation totreat’ is where there is no
such intention to be bound.
Goods on display are invitations to treat, as otherwise as soon as the customer put selectedthe goods
and put them in the trolley they might be regarded as accepting the offer. The customer offers to buy
the goods when presenting them at the payment point, and acceptance takes place when the shop
takes payment. (Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain v Boots Cash Chemists).
Advertisements: Generally regarded as invitations to treat. Partridge v Crittenden: Defendant no [Show Less]