Business Law
BUSINESS LAW ESSAY PLAN
➢ Acceptance must be communicated to be effective. ➢ Where the parties contemplate acceptance by mail, acceptance will be complete as soon as the letter is properly posted. Postal rule definition ➢ Actual communication versus constructive communication ➢ Actual acceptance (real) versus constructive acceptance (postal rule) (Graw p.89) ➢ Contract is an agreement which the law enforces. ➢ Contract law is the basis of business law ➢ Two main sources: common law, statute law
Clarke & Gamble (p.36)
Briefly, the general rules are as follows. First, an agreement is not reached unless the offeror is notified that the offer has been accepted. Therefore, it is not sufficient for the offeree merely to mentally deicide to accept an offer — this decision must be actually communicated to the offeror. Second, an agreement is concluded at the time acceptance is received by the offeror, rather than the time it is sent by the offeree.
(p. 37)
➢ The postal rule is the offeree (business) has accepted when they put the acceptance in the post. ➢ “The postal rule is unlikely to apply to email so acceptance would only occur if and when the customer accesses his or her email. … How can the online merchant prove that the customer actually opened and read an emailed acceptance?” ➢ Because the postal rule is unlikely to apply, sending an email is not constructive communication of acceptance. How could the online merchant ensure actual communication of acceptance? The consumer could therefore withdraw his or her offer to buy because they have not received actual communication of acceptance. “Offers can be withdrawn at anytime before acceptance has been notified”. ➢ The consumer could argue that he or she did not become aware of the acceptance by the online merchant until reading his or her credit card statement, so there is a problem in billing a credit card as a signifier of acceptance.
Seddon (p.141) ➢ The
➢ Acceptance must be communicated to be effective. ➢ Where the parties contemplate acceptance by mail, acceptance will be complete as soon as the letter is properly posted. Postal rule definition ➢ Actual communication versus constructive communication ➢ Actual acceptance (real) versus constructive acceptance (postal rule) (Graw p.89) ➢ Contract is an agreement which the law enforces. ➢ Contract law is the basis of business law ➢ Two main sources: common law, statute law
Clarke & Gamble (p.36)
Briefly, the general rules are as follows. First, an agreement is not reached unless the offeror is notified that the offer has been accepted. Therefore, it is not sufficient for the offeree merely to mentally deicide to accept an offer — this decision must be actually communicated to the offeror. Second, an agreement is concluded at the time acceptance is received by the offeror, rather than the time it is sent by the offeree.
(p. 37)
➢ The postal rule is the offeree (business) has accepted when they put the acceptance in the post. ➢ “The postal rule is unlikely to apply to email so acceptance would only occur if and when the customer accesses his or her email. … How can the online merchant prove that the customer actually opened and read an emailed acceptance?” ➢ Because the postal rule is unlikely to apply, sending an email is not constructive communication of acceptance. How could the online merchant ensure actual communication of acceptance? The consumer could therefore withdraw his or her offer to buy because they have not received actual communication of acceptance. “Offers can be withdrawn at anytime before acceptance has been notified”. ➢ The consumer could argue that he or she did not become aware of the acceptance by the online merchant until reading his or her credit card statement, so there is a problem in billing a credit card as a signifier of acceptance.
Seddon (p.141) ➢ The
Bibliography: Monahan (2000), The Law of Contract, Strathfield: Law Vision Pty Ltd