Contract Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 4

Contract Law - Essay Example A contact is reached when one party makes an offer and the other one accepts that offer. It is imperative to note that a deal is considered an offer only when the party making that offer shows intention of being bound. This is different to an invitation to treat (Poole, 2012). Invitation to treat is just an invitation for an offer but it is not legally binding. An example of an invitation to treat is where goods are displayed on a shop. Contacts could be either legal or illegal. An illegal contact cannot be enforced by a court of law according to the English laws. There are laws that offer guidance in determining which laws are legal and which ones are illegal. Forming an illegal contract has its consequences under the English law. This essay will explain the laws that relate to legality of a contract. It will give an explanation of illegal contracts as well as the consequences of forming illegal contracts. The essay will conclude by giving recommendations on the importance of the re forming the laws of contract. Laws relating to legality This section of the law is said to be one of the most confusing are of contract law. One of the major reasons as to why it is never clear is the fact that it lacks structure. It is usually very difficult for authors to classify the various heads of illegality. This area of law is said to be unsatisfactory and is usually very contradicting. According to the principle of legality, all laws are supposed to be clear, they should be easy to ascertain and should not be retrospective. Laws should allow decision makers to be certain in whatever decisions they make by applying laws that are declared before. In addition, laws should allow the decision makers to make decisions without altering the legal situations through discretionary divergence from the established law (Poole, 2012). Contracts which are rendered illegal A contact that does not meet statutory requirement is rendered illegal. Such contracts are regarded as illegal if they are likely to cause harm to the public or to the society (Poole, 2012). Any person who is accused of being involved in an illegal contract is likely to face consequences before the court of law. It is important to note that a contract may be lawful by itself but the parties who make an agreement may do it in an illegal manner. The following contracts are rendered illegal under common law; a) Contracts to commit a crime or to commit a civil wrong There are contracts that are aimed at committing a crime or something that is not according to the law. A contract that is deliberately aimed at committing a crime cannot be enforced by the law. However, there are situations where the parties are not aware that the contract they are about to engage in will lead to a civil wrong. Such a contract is not considered as illegal and is enforced by the law. In addition, there are situation where one party is aware that the contract will lead to a civil wrong and the other party is innocent. In suc h a situation, the innocent party will not be at fault by relying on the contract (Poole, 2012). b) Contracts that lead to corruption acts in public life These are contracts that are aimed at committing a corrupt act in the public office. For instance, it a contract is aimed at selling a public land or public property, then that contract is illegal and is not enforceable. In addition, a contract that is aimed at acquiring a tittle of honour illegally is also considered illegal and is no