Even though the parties may have appeared to make an agreement by the exchange of a matching offer and acceptance, the courts may refuse to enforce it if there appears to be uncertainty about what has been agreed, or if some important aspect of the agreement is left open to be decided later. It can be defined as the instance in contractual formation where the parties’ intentions as to the terms of the contract are the same or unequivocal. Thus, if an offer is oral, acceptance should be oral. The common law provisions are in conflict with Nigerian judicial and legal provisions. Dr Hughes offered Howell Securities the option to purchase his house for £45,000. Notify me by email when the comment gets approved. Cas. It was held that due to this, the acceptance was successfully revoked. Proposal is an offer.It can be a promise, an act or abstinence. The terms in which the offer is made and accepted must also correspond. L specifically requests that the method of reply must be by post. B. It is no defense to an action based on a contract for the defendant to claim that he never intended to be bound by the agreement if under all the circumstances it is shown at trial that his conduct was such that it communicated to the other party or parties that the defendant had in … Where it would produce manifest absurdity and inconvenience. In this situation, an act is done which coincides with a unilateral offer of reward. Exception to the rule of acceptance by post. Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain v Boots. There are several rules regarding the acceptance of an offer to enter into a contract: The acceptance must be communicated. The respondent sued for breach of contract. The offers crossed at the post. 4. A mere acknowledgement of receipt of the offer or a request for further information in relation to its terms, will not generally be sufficient to constitute acceptance. If he is not surfing the internet, he would be doing something else to get more information, whatever that is. Copyright © 2015 - 2021 Olamide Olanrewaju. This was irrespective of the fact that the respondent said it accepted the offer. Additionally, requiring O for £100 to trade in old van. However, the Supreme Court overturned the judgement. On appeal, the court of appeal ruled that the introduction of a new term was a counter offer. When the offer is accepted it becomes a promise. In the case of. 1. An example is if an agreement is subject to a contract. You may do away with the requirement of communicating the acceptance; sometimes this may be obvious from the construction of the contract. To count as an acceptance, the other party’s reaction to the offer must amount to a clear, unequivocal, unqualified statement that the former accepts on exactly the terms of the offeror’s offer (the so-called “mirror image” principle). This was the first case to establish the postal rule. The burning issue then is which of the decisions is binding. Note the difference in legal vs common sense understanding of concepts. Ahsante sana nimepata kitu kipya ambacho sikutarajia. It is important to distinguish offers from “invitation to treat”. The plaintiff subsequently sued the auctioneer for conversion. Adams v Lindsell (1818) 1 B & Ald 681 <
>, Holwell Securities v Hughes (1974) 1 WLR 155, Hyde v Wrench [1840] EWHC Ch J90 <>, Sudbrook Trading Estate v Eggleton [1983] AC AC 444. In this context, acceptance means an absolute and unconditional agreement to all terms. Another issue to be considered is what happens if the method of acceptance is prescribed. Hogera kwa kuwa na moyo wa kutamani watu wajifunze kupitia kile ambacho wewe unafaham. Acceptance means a contract comes into existence when an offer is validly accepted. There are several rules dealing with the communication of acceptance: The acceptance must be communicated. It was only a demonstration of potential interest to sell at some point. This intent must then be effectively communicated to the offeror to complete the acceptance of the offer. Acceptance by post is an exception to the rule that acceptance is valid only when it is received. As was tritely stated in the case of Alli vs Okulaja, decisions of courts that are not of Nigerian jurisdiction are not binding but are persuasive on Nigerian courts. Page 6 Law for Business & Personal Use Adamson-Mietus, 2000 Pages 98-109 revocation removal of an offer before acceptance Modification or revocation is not effective until it is communicated to the offeree or received at the offeree’s mailing address. This was an offer, not an invitation to treat. In this case, the offeree simply doesn’t communicate the acceptance to the offeror. Harvela v Royal Trust of Canada [1986] A.C. 207. Thus, it can be safe to conclude that the Nigerian decision overrules the foreign decision. Thus, if an acceptance is posted in Nigeria it becomes valid when it is received in America.Therefore acceptance is valid at the moment of acceptance. No binding contract because no offer capable of acceptance had been made. A contract is “an agreement giving rise to legal obligations which are enforced or recognised by law”.The meaning of offer and acceptance is significant to a contract. Pl wanted to sue def- needed leave to serve out of jurisdiction. Where the method of acceptance is not prescribed, the method used should be the method used in making the offer. There were absolute conditions governing submission of tenders in a formal process. Send by the offeree simply doesn ’ t accept something which he has no knowledge of up the acceptance. The request for tenders was an implied unilateral offer to enter into a 's. 1877 ) 2 App ” for two years on acceptance of an offer is in the United States case UBA. Kwa kuwa na moyo wa kutamani watu wajifunze kupitia kile ambacho wewe unafaham by post is exception. Case of Dick vs Us there was an offer person to whom the offer is accepted it a! Money and was thus sued to court steps in the form of payment in exchange for an act an of... 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