Contract law

2008

A contract is a legally binding exchange of promises or agreement between parties that the law will enforce. Contract law is based on the Latin phrase pacta sunt servanda (literally, promises must be kept) [1]. Breach of a contract is recognised by the law and remedies can be provided. Almost everyone makes contracts everyday. Sometimes written contracts are required, e.g., when buying a house [2]. However the vast majority of contracts can be and are made orally, like buying a law text book, or a coffee at a shop. Contract law can be classified, as is habitual in civil law systems, as part of a general law of obligations (along with tort, unjust enrichment or restitution).

Central European Academic Publishing eBooks, 2022

Law Trove, 2016

Offer and acceptance are the fi rst stages in establishing an agreement that may form a legally • binding contract. The terms that will bind the parties are included here. Offers may appear similar to an invitation to treat (which is an invitation to negotiate) but they • must be distinguished so as to determine who the offeror is and which party(s) may accept. Generally, items on display on the shelves in a shop, advertisements in newspapers, items • displaying a price tag in shop windows, and information in auction catalogues have been held to be invitations to treat.

Philosophical Foundations of Contract Law, 2015

Central European Academic Publishing eBooks, 2022

Regardless of the fact that not all legal systems have a clearly outlined taxonomy of processes leading to the mutual exchange of promises and to the creation of a contract, there is a consensus that a contract can be formed by offer and acceptance, by negotiations, at an auction, or by a public tender. Thus, the starting point for further analysis will be offer and acceptance as the primary and most often used methods of forming a contract. An offer is a binding proposal to enter into a contract. This proposition is nonnegotiable, i.e., the other party is proposed a contract complete with all essential elements, and may choose either to accept it or refuse it, as the case may be. Therefore, an offer has to be sufficiently precise so that a simple 'yes' or 'no' from the other party will suffice to create a contract. There are legal systems that define the notion of offer in their civil codes, with definitions varying in their scope and content, but the slightly (over)simplified definition above can be understood as part of the common core of civil law systems. The details, like the need to present a complete contract or only its relevant elements, under the assumption that the rest will be implied by the provisions of the codes, are not irrelevant, but can be set aside at this point. For now, we will focus on distinguishing between an offer and other, non-binding proposals. An offer has to be proposed, with the offeror's intent to be bound by its wording if accepted. The first test then will be 'was there a will to contract'? Standard schoolbook examples like a professor using the keys to her car to demonstrate brevi manu traditio or that of an actor writing his last will on stage apply. But that is where the easy part ends. The next test is applied to more complex factual situations, like documents containing all the required elements of a binding offer but without a clear indication that there is an intention to be bound by its contents. Classical examples are price lists, advertisements, catalogues, and simple information like 'Lemonade-1 EUR per cup.' There is no rule of the thumb as to the nature of such declarations. Some legal systems have the tendency to treat them as non-binding information, while others see them rather as offers unless proven otherwise. Finally, there are systems where some sort of guidance rules is provided-'when in doubt whether it is or is not an offer, but only an invitation to treat.' A good example is the rule in the PolCC stating that if you display a price on an object placed in public view at a vendor's place of business, this constitutes an offer unless proven otherwise. Other promises, especially regarding information on the quality of a product, may also be considered legally binding. This is particularly so in advertising, where the distinction between a mere 'puff' and a contractual promise may decide the fate of a business in case of a lawsuit. Traditionally, advertisements were considered nonbinding commercial exaggerations unless the intent to create a binding contract was ostensible, like in the famous case of Carlile v Carbolic Smoke Co. Thus, for instance, no one could reasonably expect that a washing powder advertised with the slogan 'RADION cleans clothes all by itself' (a Polish slogan from 1930s) would actually require no input on the buyer's side. Today, with buyers often being consumers, new

Social Science Research Network, 2015

Oltenia. Studii si comunicari, III, 1981

Interdisciplinary Journal for Religion and Transformation in Contemporary Society, 2024

https://brill.com/view/journals/jrat/aop/article-10.30965-23642807-bja10113/article-10.30965-23642807-bja10113.xml Charismas are a particular case of the commerce between visible and invisible powers. The notion of charisma and grace is not independent of sacrifice, which entangles a divine death. St. Paul first coined the term charisma. Charisma begins by signifying the grace that derives through multiple channels from Christ's redemptive sacrifice. For Paul grace is disseminated in every Christian who associates his or her life with that of Christ. After Christ, other sacred deaths will come to be associated with that grace, particularly the lives of the martyrs, but also those of political heroes. The paper examines the grace associated with the life of martyrs and its theological-political analogy with the life of political heroes as dispensators of some kind of grace and salvation.