英国合同法复习资料 -CAL-FENGHAI-(2020YEAR-YICAI)_JINGBIAN

Lecture 1 Offer and acceptance I

What is an offer?

Key principles: An offer is a statement which objectively indicates that the offeror is prepared

900 pounds”P:“We agree to buy for the sum of 900 pounds asked by you” D refused to sell. Held: D is not b ound. P’s first telegram asked two questions and D answered only the second. D had made no promise, express or implied to sell. A statement of the minimum price at which a

sell the house to you” and invited Gibson to fill in a form. Gibson filled in but council refused to sell.

Held: No contract. The words “may be prepared to sell” are fatal to this. The Council did not make an offer but only invited offers and the tenant made a firm offer which was rejected by the Council. The tenant’s application was an offer rather than an acceptance.

Recognized instances of invitations to treat

Advertisements

Key principles: Advertisements are normally invitations to treat because it is clear that the

each. No details as to quantity.

Held: The ad did not amount to an offer to sell.

after using the smoke ball as directed and that to show its sincerity it had deposited £1000 in a bank account. P used the smoke ball, but nevertheless caught flu.

Held: the ad was an offer to the world which was accepted by P when she used the smoke ball as directed. She was entitled to the £100.

Shop displays

Key principles: the display of goods for sale on a supermarket shelf is an invitation to treat, and

Held :As a general rule, display of flick knife in a shop window is an invitation to treat and not

supervision of a registered pharmacist. In this shop, the pharmacist could refuse to allow the purchase at the cash desk.

Held: Putting up goods on the shelves of a self-service shop was an invitation to treat. There was no sale until the shopkeeper accepted the customer’s offer to buy. The main practical consequence of this are under the law of contract, shops are not bound to sell goods at the price indicated and a customer cannot demand to buy a particular item on display.

Tenders

Key principles: a circular inviting the submission of tenders is normally an invitation to treat and

sold at a discount in one lot. The plaintiff argued that the defendant has to sell to the highest tender.

Held: For the defendant. An offer for sale in the tender is just an invitation to treat. There is

companies to cover its employees’ medical and life insurance.

Held: It was confirmed that an invitation to tender is no more than an intention to receive bids. Situations where there is a contractual obligation to accept the most competitive bid

Key principles: an invitation to submit tenders may amount to an offer where it is clear that the seller intends to sell to the highest bidder. (The invitation to tender may amount to an offer of

“we bind ourselves to accept (the highest) offer. P bid $2175000 and D2 bid $2100000 or $101000 “in excess of any other offer. D1 believed that they were bound to accept the bid of D2, as being the highest bid.

Held: the invitation to tender amounted to an offer to sell to the highest bidder, however, the “referential” bid of the type adopted by D2 was not permissible in a transaction of this kind and therefore D1 was bound to accept the P’s bid. (the third party’s bid was a referential bid and was not a valid offer.)

An obligation to consider tenders

Key principles: an invitation to submit tenders is an offer to open and consider all confirming

letter stated that ’No tender which is received after the last date and time specified’ would be considered. P’s tender was posted by hand in the D’s letter box before the deadline expired, but D’s staff did not empty the box and the P’s tender was not considered.

Held: all tenders submitted which complied with the tendering procedure would be opened and considered together with the other conforming tenders. The invitation to tender was a