ACCEPTANCE Acceptance may be defined as an Unconditional

ACCEPTANCE • Acceptance may be defined as an; Ø Unconditional agreement Ø Communicated by the offeree to the offeror Ø To all terms of the offer Ø Made with the intention of accepting. • A contract will Not be binding unless the parties have expressed themselves with reasonable certainty.

Features of Acceptance 1. Acceptance Must Be Unconditional – • Offeree must accept the exact terms proposed by the offoror unconditionally. • Introduction of new terms to the initial offer will end the original offer. • Such new terms will give rise to a “counter-offer”. Counter-offers then operate as a new offer.

2. Acceptance Must Be Communicated – • General Rule – Acceptance will NOT be effective unless communicated to the offeror by the offeree or his authorized agent. • An uncommunicated mental assent will not suffice. • The Leonidas Case Golf L. J stated that – it is axiomatic that acceptance of an offer cannot be inferred from silence. • Therefore, communication of acceptance must be actually received by the offeror.

SILENCE • Does silence on the part of the offeree mount to an acceptance…? • The offeror cannot impose a contract on the offeree against his wishes. • Accordingly, silence on the part of the offeree should not be considered as an acceptance. • Thus, offeror cannot impose such conditions on the offeree.

Method of Acceptance • How can you communicate your acceptance…? IMPORTANT • If the offeror prescribed; 1. A particular method of communicating 2. Makes it clear that no other method will suffice then there may be NO contract if different methods are used to communicate the acceptance. Eg – Eliason V. Henshaw

Acceptance by Post • At what point you consider the acceptance has been communicated to the offeror…? Postal Rule • If acceptance by post is requested or it is the reasonable mean of communication, then the acceptance is complete; Ø Immediately when the letter is posted.

TERMINATION OF OFFER • There a number of ways for an offer to be terminated. …LIKE…. ? ? • They are events that may occur after an offer has been made. • Such events bring the offer to an end so that it can no longer be accepted. • An offer can be terminated; 1. Revocation 2. Rejection 3. Laps 4. Death

1. REVOCATION • Revocation means an offer is withdrawn by the offeror. • The general rule was established in Payne V. Cave Ø Held - that an offer can be revoked at any time before acceptance takes place. • The revocation must be communicated effectively directly or indirectly to the offeree before acceptance. • Important – communication should actually reach the offeree. • Sufficient communication does not need to be made by the offeror personally, personally it is sufficient if revocation id communicated by a reliable third party. Eg - Dickinson V. Dodds

2. REJECTION - • An offer is terminated when the offeree communicates his rejection to the offeror. • Offeree making a counter-offer also amounts to a rejection of the original offer. • In Hyde V. Wrench Ø Lord Langdale held that the counter offered by the offeree terminated the original offer. Hence, …thereby rejected the offer previously made by the offeror.

3. LAPSE OF TIME • Can you accept an offer after laps of 5 years…. ? • Ramsgate Victoria Hotel V. Montefiore Ø Held - an offer will lapse if it is open for a specific length of time and that time limit expires. • Where there is no express time limit, an offer is normally open only for a reasonable time • The length for a reasonable time will depend on the circumstances of the case. • Also the definition of a reasonable time depends upon the demand for the subject matters and upon the instability of its price.

Intention To Be Legally Bound • There is a legally binding contract ONLY if both parties intend to create legal relations. • Courts have identified; 1. Some agreements are legally bound by its very nature. 2. Some parties directly or indirectly express they do not intent to be contractually bound. • However, intention to be bound is the crucial element. • The courts assess the parties’ intentions objectively.

1. Domestic Agreements – • Where a husband wife who are living together as one, • any household agreement made between them. • Courts will assume that they DO NOT intend to be legally bound, unless there is evidence to the contrary. • Balfour v Balfour Ø Husband left her wife in England wend abroad. Ø Question – whethere is a contract regarding monthly allowence Ø Held – There is a contract as spouses were not living together in harmony at the time of the contract.

2. Social Agreements – • There CAN NOT be any binding intentions to form contractual liabilities in social agreements. Eg – To offer a friend a meal does not constitute legal liabilities. • Coward V. Motor Insurance Bureay Ø Arrangement to share petrol to work does not constitute an intention to be legally binding.