Nov
Business Law – Making a Contract online
It is well established offline how a contract should be formed based on case law through the years and how a contract is concluded. The conclusion of a party is when both parties sign the contractual document which sets out the agreed terms and conditions. It is also well known that a contract can be agreed upon verbally but if either party then turns around and denies the existence of any contract between the parties, it is far more difficult to establish evidence to the contrary and proving that an agreement was made between the parties.
To establish a legally binding contract, four elements need to be established, consideration, intention to create a legal relation, the offer and then acceptance. Consideration means that each party will benefit in some way by the contract that is being entered into. The intention to create legal relations is generally apparent in all cases, because of the fact that both parties have entered into negotiation. The tricky part to establishing a legally binding contract is the offer and acceptance part. An offer is when something id offered to the other party to buy, but it must be of a particular item, including the specific nature of the item, the price to be paid, how it is to be delivered and when payment is due. This is often confused with an invitation to treat. It must be remembered that you cannot accept an invitation to treat and therefore cannot conclude a contract.