Introduction to Contract Law

Contract or more commonly known as an agreement is something that is familiar and

can be found everywhere. Almost every activity in buying and selling, leasing, and

other business transactions cannot be separated from the name of the agreement. The

agreements are basically oral and written, but today in the era of globalization, almost

every agreement is in written form. This is not unreasonable, an agreement made in

writing gives more sense of certainty than an agreement made only verbally.

Almost in every business activity in the form of buying and selling, leasing, and

others are always followed by an agreement or contract which becomes a means of

pouring the will or desire of the parties doing business which is realized in a draft

contract that contains clauses or points that are has been previously negotiated and

agreed upon by the parties. In the international level in the era of globalization, the

international community is no longer constrained by national borders when entering

into agreements internationally.

Every citizen can now conduct business internationally, meaning that one citizen can

enter into a country with a foreign citizenship or residing in another country. Because

of this, there is a need for rules that can regulate the traffic of business transactions

and others, so that contract law emerged which became a very important instrument

that contained signs in the traffic of business transactions, in which contract law

emerged to protect the rights of the parties and certainly had the power to force the

parties to carry out their obligations. The existence of contract law itself becomes

very fundamental for agreements, both local scale and internationally scaled. This is
marked by the successful implementation of international treaty law conferences in

Vienna from 26 March to 24 May 1968 and from the date 9 April to 22 May 1969

which produced the Vienna convention.

In the Common law countries, it is stated that there are three things that become a

legal condition of a contract, namely: offer and acceptance, meeting of minds and

consideration.

Introduction to Offer and Acceptance

Every contract must start with an offer and an acceptance. What is intended by an

offer is a statement given by someone to another person followed by the desire / will

to be bound to the statement, the form can be written, oral, and conduct (conduct).

The will to be bound by the statement made does not have to be in written form.

Acceptance is the response or response to an offer. Acceptances can be done by

action. Acceptances must be the same as what is offered.

Rules of Offer

Bidding submitted to the public will result in two types of contracts, namely bilateral

contracts and unilateral contracts. A bilateral contract is made by two people and both

parties must fulfill their promise. The unilateral contract is an offer that requires

action. An offer is a statement that gives the parties the opportunity to make the

statement and subsequently binds the proposer. The offer also causes the bidder to

expose himself to a contractual bond. Once the party to whom the offer relates says
acceptance, the bidder will continue to be bound by the contract. This bond is a

contractual contract that may be enforced by law.

Example: Kalvert says to Aiken, "I would like to buy your shoes for RM85." Aiken

then replies "I agree to sell it at your stated price". Here Kalvert made an offer

because his statement was a sad one to contract. When Aiken replied to the

agreement, the agreement was reached. Kalvert and Aiken were bound by the

contract. An offer is an opportunity offered by the bidder to the bidder to bind himself

to the contract. The implication of the offer is that when it is received with

acceptance, the bidder can no longer withdraw. Withdrawing an offer that is already

legally accepted is a breach of contract. Offers sometimes don't apply right away.

Usually, real offers are preceded by negotiation, promotion, bargain or show. This

stage is also known as Bid Invitations.

The Invitation Offer is also a statement of the offer. This statement looks like an offer

or suggestion because the situation and the words used are very similar. But, in

reality, it's not an offer. The issuer of this statement is not bound by the contract in the

event of feedback, although the party providing the feedback may be considered a real

offer. The difference between an offer and an offer invitation lies in the intention. The

offer is made with the intention of binding the contractor to the contract as a result of

the other party's acceptance. The person making the offer is ready to enter into a

contract. A Contract Invitation is only a test to know the interests of the other party or

to tell you what to offer. Offer contractors are not ready to be bound by the contract.

Intention is something that is difficult to prove in court. But this intention can be

assumed through the circumstances of the case, the parties involved and the content of

the statement. This means that in cases involving a dispute over whether an action is
an offer or an invitation only, we need to look at the facts in detail and in particular by

referring to the prevailing custom in the local transaction.

Example of cases

1. Case: Pharmaceutical Society Of Great Britain vs. Boots

The defendants, Boots that allegedly sell drugs or illegal drugs. Plaintiffs as

the body governing the sale of illegal drugs or drugs intend to impose legal

action on Boots. By law, it is an offense for any person to "sell" certain drugs.

The question is whether the sale date and the items on display are still an

offer or an invitation only. Lord Goddard has decided that: “The goods show

is just an invitation that invites people to make an offer to buy it. Any

customer interested in buying it will make an offer at the payment desk. So

the payment spell is a proposal that the cashier can accept or reject. "

Negotiating the auction. The auction usually starts with the auctioneer

declaring the opening price and giving people the opportunity to make higher

bidding. The auctioneer's bid to open this price offer is only one bid

invitation, not one bid. The offer is only made by the submitting party. Each

party who mentioned the price they wanted made an offer to the auctioneer.

The auctioneer will continue to open up opportunities for the public to make

the highest bid. When no one else offers, the auctioneer will tap the hammer

as a sign of acceptance. Acceptance occurs when the hammer is knocked

down and the person offering the highest price is bound by the contract

2. Case: M&J Frozen Food Sdn Bhd & Anor v Siland Sdn Bhd & Anor

The question arises in the case of a public auction of land, whether a contract

was formed when the auctioneer dropped his hammer, Wan Yahya HMA in
 his judgment in the Supreme Court ruled that according to the provisions of

the National Land Code 1965, sales by The fall of the hammer is formed

when the auctioned item is no longer recommended to any buyer, at which

point the buyer who has succeeded in the auction is bound by his acceptance

of the purchase.

3. Advertise Ads serve to inform a product or service while ensuring that the

brand is always remembered by the consumer. An ad is not created as a

contract offer because the advertiser does not specifically target the ad to

specific parties. The statement contained in the ad is not an offer but merely

an invitation. Case: Coelho versus The Public Services Comission The

plaintiff has applied for the post of assistant passport officer who was

advertised by the Malaya Government Overseas Mission in The Malay Mail.

The plaintiff was successful and accepted training. He was sent to work in

Kuala Lumpur on February 28, 1958. In November 1959, he was appointed

assistant passport officer, but is still on probation. In December 1959, on a

charge of misconduct, the defendant informed Plaintiff that plaintiff's office

had been terminated. Defendants assert that they have the right to terminate

Plaintiff's position because there is no valid contract between them and the

plaintiff. The court has ruled that the advertisement offered is an invitation to

anyone interested in applying for the position where the advertiser has the

right to reject or accept the application. The letter sent from the defendant to

the plaintiff was an unconditional acceptance and therefore did not arise as to

whether the plaintiff's appointment was at trial. Therefore, termination of

service rendered against plaintiff is invalid.

 Meeting of minds

Conformity of will in this case is the existence of a statement of will between the

parties regarding the object of the contract. If the object contract is clear then the

contract is valid. Conformity of the will in the case is done by the existence of fraud,

mistakes, coercion (duress), abuse of the situation then the contract becomes invalid

and the contract can be canceled. Fraud that is intentionally misrepresenting facts so

that contractual relations occur in this case committing deception. Mistake, which

occurs if two parties who sign a contract with facts that turned out to be wrong then

the party can cancel the contract.

Rules of acceptance

Acceptance is a statement of acceptance by the party offered for an offer submitted to

him. This acceptance includes the terms and conditions in the offer. Conditional

acceptances cannot be assessed as acceptances, but rather counter offers. For

example, in a negotiation process, there is often a counter-offer because acceptance

does not match the offer. If a counter-offer occurs, the offer loses its power due to

rejection. The question in this counter-offer is, who then becomes the offeror? In this

connection the offeror is the party who offers the counter offer. Acceptance marks an

agreement. Therefore determining the time of acceptance is very important. The rights

and obligations of the parties are effective after the agreement is formed. The parties

cannot demand the same from others before they reach an agreement. Thus the parties

are only bound to one another's contractual obligations when they have reached an
agreement. In this connection, the issue of the time of acceptance is an important

issue to be answered. The development in the field of technology and the business

world or business is a combination that moves so fast, so that it has implications on

the aspects of the contract on all sides, including aspects of its formation.

New types of business transactions emerge with their respective patterns which often

contain different characters both in legal aspects and in economic aspects. The

different ways and media in the formation process have different implications in

determining when the agreement occurs to the parties. Conventional contracts that are

formed either orally or in writing will be different from contracts that will be formed

electronically.

As a result, the theory of acceptances in conventional contracts cannot be fully

applied to contracts made electronically. The basic principle in determining the

accepting time is that each statement is binding. In this perspective, the moment when

the acceptance is stated, is considered as the moment when the acceptance occurs.

Silence is not considered acceptance but must be expressly stated.

Conclusion

Thus a brief description of offer and acceptance in contract law, many things have not

been covered regarding contract law with all aspects that exist and are related to

contract law. To conclude, contract is clarity in business relationships, agreements,

and rights of parties. Without contract, as good and as detailed as any agreement may

seems, it would be just a piece of paper without meaning.

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