The case of Motherwell Bridge Construction v Micafil Vakuumtechnik (2002) CILL 1913 suggests

the vulnerability contracting parties may face when they revert to the courts to establish if
they have executed a contract or not. You are, hereby, required to discuss, in your small group,
what agreements the courts may enforce as legally binding to the contracting parties.

In simple terms a contract can be defined as an agreement between two parties. The agreement need not
necessarily be in written form. A verbal agreement is still considered binding under law.

An offer and acceptance are the basics of a contract (Crystal, 2019). A lawfully binding contract can be formed
by establishing terms and conditions of offer and acceptance. ‘Consideration’, which is usually the exchange of
something and ‘Intention’ by which both parties entering to a contract to be legally binding are other two
factors of a legally binding contract.

At present day, technology has unveiled several different methods of communication like e-mail, Fax,
Telephonic services and so on. Agreements made through any of these communication channels can be
considered legal and any breach of contract can be taken to court. Richard Brittle of Brittle Motors based in
Stoke-on-Trent believes that “a text message create a legally binding contract” (Crystal, 2019). This has been
confirmed recently in the case of Golden Ocean Group Ltd v Sagacor Mining Industries PVT Ltd and another
[2012] EWCA Civ 265 (MCNEIL, 2014)

If the terms and conditions are not clearly stated and the consideration & intention are incomplete ‘Verbal
Agreements’ may not be upheld by courts as they are not considered as complete verbal agreements. Hence it
is advisable to have some form of written contract concerning exchange of any services. Certain agreements
like consumer credit, sale of property, contract that last longer than a year, copy writes, tenancy agreements
must be in written form. These regulations may vary internationally. For example ‘California statute
conforming to the UCC’ mandates that all sale of goods contracts worth more than $500 must be supported by
a written agreement to be deemed lawful (California Code, 2019).

All contracts with minors are unenforceable in the courts. Contracts made with minors for necessaries and
beneficial service contracts are valid, other contracts such as leases and partnership agreements are voidable
by the minor. Contracts not falling into those categories are unenforceable. (Jones, 2017).

California Code, Commercial Code - COM § 2201. [viewed Oct 23, 2019]. Available
from: https://codes.findlaw.com/ca/commercial-code/com-sect-2201.html.

Crystal, G., 2019. Legally Binding Contracts. Available from:

http://www.contractsandagreements.co.uk/legally-binding-contracts.html
Jones, Lucy. Introduction to Business Law. Fourth edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017. Print.

MCNEIL, J., 2014. Even emails and text messaging can constitute a legally binding agreement!. Paris Smith. .
Available from: https://parissmith.co.uk/blog/even-emails-text-messaging-can-constitute-legally-
binding-agreement/.
Reply to the feedback to my post:
Hi Nicolas,

Thank you for the feedback and highlighting a good point.

There are high chances of a ‘Verbal Agreements’ not being uphold by courts due to ‘assumptions’ or ‘different
intensions’ made by both parties. There is no doubt ‘Verbal Contracts’ are deemed to be considered as legally
binding. What I was arguing in my post was about their completeness (although in verbal format) so that they
can be clearly defended in case of dispute.

UpCounsel (2019) has stressed that a ‘Verbal Agreement’ has to be complete in four factors to be enforceable.
An ‘offer’ to be made, someone to ‘accept’ that offer, an exchange of something (‘consideration’) has
happened and a genuine ‘intention’ to make the agreement.

The idea is that the court should be able to extract the key terms of the agreement in order to enforce it and
the party moving for enforcement must be able to prove the terms of the contract to the satisfaction of the
court. (HG.org, 2018)

As you have rightly mentioned it is always wise to have some form of written documentation to support the
verbal argument.

Cheers !

References:

Are Verbal Agreements Binding? - HG.org, 2018. Available from: https://www.hg.org/legal-articles/are-

verbal-agreements-binding-35794.

How to Prove a Verbal Contract | UpCounsel 2019. Available from: https://www.upcounsel.com/how-to-

prove-a-verbal-contract.

Posted on 25/10/2019

I my previous post, I have discussed the requirements of a contract (both Written and Verbal) courts can upheld
in case of dispute. Today I would like to discuss the contracts that can be rejected by the courts.

Fundamentally, a contract that possesses an offer and acceptance, consideration and an intention can form a
legally binding contract (UpCounsel, 2019). However the law imposes some exceptions and contacts can be
considered void when court considers that one of the party is not in a legal capacity to enter into a contract.
(Laven, 2018) states that a contract can be void if one of the parties is “Under 7 years of age”, “Having Serious
Mental health Issues” or “Impaired by being drug addicted”.

There are restrictions on enforceability of contracts with Minors. Minors between 7 and 18 years can enter into a
contract, however, it is presumed that they may not understand the impletions of the entering into the contract
and they are allowed to cancel the same any time before reaching the age of 18. (Mugan, 2018)

I welcome any comments from the group to take this topic further.

References:
How to Prove a Verbal Contract | UpCounsel 2019. Available from: https://www.upcounsel.com/how-to-
prove-a-verbal-contract.
LAVER,N. Entering into a contract with a minor. Available from: https://www.inbrief.co.uk/contract-
law/contract-with-minors/.

MUGAN, E., 2018. Minors And Contracts. Available from: http://www.lawandparents.co.uk/minors-

entering-into-contracts.html.

Posted on 29/10/2019

Hi Emeakpor and Dara,

I agree with you on that there are several ambiguities in perceiving contracts and their enforceability. Further to
your inputs I would like add about the differences in legislation (Contracts Law) within / across countries which
affects how courts will perceive the contracts, making things further complicated for an ordinary man.

Take the case of Retail Park Investments Ltd v The Royal Bank of Scotland plc [1996], for example, the
Scottish law has grated the landlord of specific implementation to compel tenants to continue to trade from the
leased premises. In contrary, by English Law, the landlords were able only to see damages for breach.
Cooperative Insurance Society Ltd v Argyll Stores (Holdings) Ltd [1998] provides a good example of this.
(MACPHERSON,R., 2010)

In England, in accordance with Limitation Act 1980, a claimants has six years to bring an action for breach of
contract, where as in Scotland the Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973 mandates such actions to be
raised within five years.

Interestingly the Scots Law recognises ‘Unilateral Promise’, by which a party can bind itself to an obligation
without any need for acceptance (MACPHERSON,R., 2010).

There are many other items that makes contracts law different at different (region) courts. These variations make
parties more cautious while dealing with disputes.

Cheers,

Sreehari.

References:

LEGAL UPDATES CONTRACT LAW - SCOTLAND V ENGLAND - THE SAME BUT DIFFERENT.
Available from: Https://Brodies.Com/Binformed/Legal-Updates/Contract-Law-Scotland-V-England-
the-Same-but-Different
MACPHERSON,R., 2010 Scots and English contract law: false friends?. Available
from: http://www.inhouselawyer.co.uk/legal-briefing/scots-and-english-contract-law-false-friends/.

Posted on 01/11/2019

Hi Stuart/David/Eden

Thank you all for bringing up an interesting topic and your contributions to it.

As Stuart rightly highlighted, even though all components of an agreement (offer, acceptance, consideration and
intentions) are seems to be reasonably certain, the real problem is coming up with proofs. The challenging partly
has the burden of proving evidence for the existence of the ‘elements contract’ up to the satisfaction of the Law /
Courts (TARYN, 2016). As Eden mentioned, e-mail, text messages, photographs, bills can be used in
establishing the proofs, but can be very challenging especially in cases where the only record is the lines of a
phone call or similar. The judges will focus in establishing an agreement coupled with genuine intension that
meets the reasonable expectations between honest businessmen as in the case of RTS Flexible Systems Ltd v
Molkerei Alois Muller GmbH & Co KG, 2010 (DAVIES, 2017). Without any witnesses to the agreement there
is high chances of losing the trail. I strongly agree with you all that three should always be some form of written
consent to be able to safely execute a contract.

DAVIES, CHARLOTTE RECENT CASES ON ORAL CONTRACTS - SAILING TO VICTORY VIA THE
HORSE & GROOM(2017). Available from: http://www.littletonchambers.com/charlotte-davies-on-
recent-cases-on-oral-contracts-sailing-to-victory-via-the-horse-groom-1198/.
TARYN HARTLEY The Enforceability of Oral Contracts (2016). Available
from: https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=a7608568-e4a6-47ae-b123-d9cb9805ea24.

Posted on 04/11/2019 – Couldn’t able to post below

Hi Dara,

Thank you for your post and bringing up this topic.

Further to the case you mentioned in your post where the sequence of offer and acceptance were made mattered
to determine the enforcement, I happened to find a similar case ‘Carmarthen Developments Ltd v Pennington’.
This case also shows how notices related to changes in a contract prevailed before the other party responding
base on the old terms. Interestingly in this case the notice was not sent my post but collected by hand by the
recipient.

HECTOR L MACQUEEN Contract Formation between Distant Parties: The Scottish Experience. Available
from: https://www.research.ed.ac.uk/portal/files/22928833/MACQUEEN_TRANSATLANTIC_CON
TRACTS.pdf.