Contract Law Summary 1st year

Table of Contents

Week 1 - Introduction ....................................................................................................... 2
Week 2 – Offer and acceptance ........................................................................................ 5
Week 3 – Intention and Consideration ............................................................................ 18
Week 3 – Workshop........................................................................................................ 28
WEEK 4 – Capacity, Formalities, Interpretation & Good Faith .......................................... 30
Week 4 – Workshop........................................................................................................ 43
Week 5 – Avoidance, Illegality & Defective Consent ........................................................ 46
Week 5 – Workshop........................................................................................................ 63
Week 6 – Termination / Discharge .................................................................................. 66
Week 6 – Workshop........................................................................................................ 78
Week 7 – Remedies ........................................................................................................ 80
Week 7 – Workshop........................................................................................................ 93
EXAM PREP .................................................................................................................... 97

,Week 1 - Introduction

• What is Contract Law and why do we need it?
• To be able to enforce obligations that parties have agreed upon;
Makes the interactions between people more determinative and
therefore more likely to happen (As security encourages people to
develop economy)
• A contract is a legally binding agreement that will be enforced by the
law.
• A contract gives rise to obligations between the parties to the
contract and the failure to perform these obligations gives the right to
a remedy.
• Economic justifications
o To support market economy; to allow market actors to
participate in economic and social life
o It facilitates mutually beneficial exchanges, and so promotes
overall social welfare
o Building market confidence: most exchanges of any
complexity cannot be performed simultaneously. CL
facilitates the making and performing of deferred exchanges.
It provides remedies for breaches of contract
o Secure cooperation in human behavior
o Secure high-risk transactions
o CL provides mechanism for enforcement of agreements
• Contract Law ensures that society can function because agreements
are enforceable
• People make their own agreements (not the State)




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, Type of Parties Reason for Type of Performance
Performance
- B2B: Business to - A promise in Employment
Business exchange for a Contracts, Agency
- B2C: Business to promise Banking, Carriage by
Consumer → Bilateral Air, Carriage by Sea,
- C2C: Consumer contract Competition Law,
to Consumer → e.g. the sale Construction
of a bike Contracts, Credit &
Security, Employment,
- A promise in Intellectual Property,
exchange for an IT & E-Commerce,
act Insurance,
→ Unilateral International Sale of
contract Goods, Sale of
→ e.g. the Securities, Sale of
promise of a Land, Landlord and
reward for Tenants, Marriage,
information etc.
about a crime


• Party Agreement:
o Standard form contracts
o General terms
• Formal sources of law
o National law (e.g., civil/common law)
o Default rules, facilitative rules, mandatory rules
o Regional Law (e.g., EU law)
o International Law (e.g., CISG)
• Informal sources of law
o Non-state organizations
o Academics
o Non-binding soft law (e.g., Principles, Restatements, DFCR)



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