Introduction
This module guide is designed to help you to study the Contract law of England and Wales. This guide is not a textbook and it must not be
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reading the texts, cases, statutory materials and journals referred to in it. The purpose of the guide is to take you through each topic in the syllabus for Contract law in a way which will help you to understand contract law. The guide is intended to ‘wrap around’ the recommended textbooks and casebook. It provides an outline of the major issues presented in this subject. Each chapter presents the most important substantive aspects of the topic and provides guidance as to essential and further reading. Each chapter also provides you with activities to test your understanding of the topic and self-assessment exercises designed to assist your progress. Feedback
to many of these activities is available at the back of this guide. There are also sample examination questions, with appropriate feedback, which will assist you in your examination preparation and quick quizzes to measure your progress, with answers on the virtual learning environment (VLE). The method of study described is the result of the accumulated experience of highly experienced teachers and writers on this topic. Your knowledge of the subject will be maximised when you use this guide in the intended way. Any other approach (e.g. reading the feedback before or alongside the self-assessment) might give false confidence in your knowledge and ability to answer questions under examination conditions.
In the study of contract law, it is essential to try to gain an understanding of the underlying basis of contract law – what the law is trying to do in response to particular issues. This is then supplemented and exemplified by a more detailed knowledge of its substantive principles. The rote memorisation of rules and cases alone will not equip you to analyse a legal problem or statement of the sort that form the basis of formative and summative examination in this subject. To do this you need to acquire an overview of the topic, understand its structure, parts and inter-relationships. When this is supplemented by a more detailed knowledge and skills of analysis you will be
able to apply the law in written answers that gain maximum credit. To do this it is most likely that you will need to read passages or chapters in the guide (and the relevant suggested reading materials) several times in order to understand the principles of law being co
CONTRACT LAW 1 INTROduCTION ANd GENERAL pRINCIpLEs pAGE 3
1.1 Studying the law of contract
As already stated, this guide is not a textbook nor a substitute for reading the primary materials that comprise the law of contract (i.e. cases and statutory materials). Its purpose is to take you through each topic in the syllabus for Contract law in a way which will help you to understand and apply contract law. It provides an outline of the major issues presented in this subject. It will also help you prepare to answer the kind of questions the examination paper is likely to contain. Note, however, that no topic will necessarily be included in any particular examination and that some are more likely to appear than others. Examination questions may take different forms, though most in the past have been of a traditional ‘problem’ or ‘essay’ style. The examiners are bound only by the syllabus and not by anything said in – or omitted from – this guide.
What do we mean by ‘taking you through’ a topic? Very simply it is to spell out what problems or difficulties the law is seeking to provide a solution for and to give a structured guide to the materials (textbooks, cases and statutes). You must read these in order to appreciate how English law has dealt with the issues and to judge how satisfactory the solutions are in terms of overall policy.
How to use this module guide
Each chapter begins with a general introduction to the topic covered.
Following that, the topic is divided into subsections. Each subsection provides a reference to the recommended readings in McKendrick’s textbook and Poole’s casebook (see Section 1.2 below). At a minimum, you should read these; in many cases you will probably find that you need to re-read them. It is often difficult to grasp some legal principles and most students find that they need to re-apply themselves to some topics.
In addition, at the end of each chapter, there are recommendations for further reading. This will always cover the relevant chapter in the most appropriate more detailed text. You may find it desirable to review this second textbook from time to time because it is sometimes easier to grasp a point that you have found difficult when it is explained in a different, even if more detailed, fashion. Some recommended readings are also included in the Contract law study pack.
Throughout each chapter, self-assessment questions and learning activities are provided. Feedback is also given with regard to the learning activities to allow you to check your comprehension of a particular matter. You will find this process most helpful if you attempt to answer the question before you check the feedback. This approach provides invaluable examination practice. If instead you get into the habit
of simply reading the question and then immediately checking the feedback this will not help you improve your question answering technique and may give you a false confidence. The unsubstantiated reflection: ‘oh yes I would have written that in an exam’ is not the same as actually demonstrating that you could have done so. The object of your studies is to understand, rather than memorise, the law. This requires a sufficiently detailed knowledge of the substantive law which you are then able to
apply to answer legal questions. At the end of each chapter, some advice is given with regard to possible examination questions on this topic. The fact that this constitutes advice about possible examination questions cannot be stressed enough. The quick quizzes at the end of each chapter are designed to help you reflect on your learning. Again, answer the questions before looking at the answers and feedback on the VLE. The ‘Am I ready to move on?’ section is for you to reflect on what you have learned and ensure you have sufficient knowledge of the areas covered in each chapter before you move on to the next one. There is no feedback for these questions but you should be honest in your self-reflection.
The reasons for studying the principles of the law of contract are readily apparent: as individuals we enter and perform contractual obligations every day of our lives and contracts are the foundation of most commercial activity. Many specialist areas of law are built upon a contractual foundation e.g. insurance law, employment law and landlord and tenant law.
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