Business Law Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Business Law - Coursework Example A contract is defined as an agreement made with an intention to create legal relationship between two parties in order to exchange some form of consideration (Uher & Davenport, 2009). Basically, in English Law for a contract to be initiated, there should be an offer and an acceptance. Both the offer and acceptable must give rise to the exchange of consideration under terms that are clearly spelt out in clear terms (Young, 2010). Also, both parties must have the legal capacity to contract (be over 18 years old and be of a sound and uninfluenced mind). And the consideration to be exchanged should be legal in the law. Additionally, there should be an intention to create a legal relationship. In Smith V Hughes [1871] 40 LJQB J221 it was seen that the intention to create legal relationship can either be expressed or implied when one partie conducts himself in a way that the other might reasonably imply to mean an intention to create a legal relationship hence a contract. Consideration is an important requirement in English Law. A consideration is at thing of value, that a person exchanges for another thing of value in a contract. Treitel, (1988) bases on this and states that a contract gives rise to rights and responsibilities for each party in a contract. ... Breach of Contracts â€Å"A contract is breached if one party introduces a fundamental change which is unacceptable to the other party.† Morris et al (2007). In practice, when a person fails to do as promised in a term of a given contract, there is a breach of contract. In Johnson V Agnew [1980], there was the failure of one party to discharge what was promised in the contract. This led to a breach of contract which was due to the failure of one party to discharge his responsibility as promised and according to the terms of the contract. In effect, the other party’s rights accrued under the contract were limited because after discharging his responsibility, the other party failed to give him the consideration due to him. Obviously, this led the aggrieved party to suffer several hardships which would not have occurred if the other party had discharged his duty as promised. In such a case, the aggrieved party can go to court and seek some kind of restitution. In such a si tuation, the court will decide on a remedy for the aggrieved party based on the facts of the case and pass a judgement on the case (Morris et al, 2007) Damages for the Breach of Contract The usual remedy under English commercial law for a breach of commercial contract is an award of damages (Whincup, 2006). This therefore means that in most cases, where some kind of damages can be awarded to an aggrieved party in a contract to restore him to his former position, the court will normally grant that. In Robinson V Harman 1848 Ex Rep 850, the landmark ruling was that â€Å"where a party sustains a loss by reason of a breach of contract, he is so far as money can do it, to be placed in the same situation ...as if the contract had been performed†. This