Univeristy
RE: Breaching of the Law of Contract
FACTS
Contract law differs from one to another country, and it has some difference in its enforcement, legality, and remedies for the contract breach. It is always recommendable to have a lawyer before entering into any contract because once the contract is made each party gets responsibilities to fulfill, failing to do can lead to legal consequences.
ISSUE
There was a contract between Joseph (Distributor of novelty supplies or seller) and Steve (Buyer of the candy) where the seller and buyer agreed that Joseph would supply 3000 miniature novelty candy bars at fifty cents each to Steve. The terms of purchase, delivery, payment, etc. were finalized and all of these were in the printed clause. Later, after the negotiation, Joseph agrees to supply the candy at 40 cents to Steve without any written document. As a first delivery, Joseph supplies 1500 candies. Steve receives the first lot delivery, and Joseph accepts the payment at the rate of 40 cents per candy.
While delivering the second lot, Joseph did not have the same candy, so he sends a different type of candy that required special storage environment. But, this was not known to Steve, so the candy was damaged. Steve denied accepting a second lot of the candy. So, Joseph sued a case against Steve saying that he breached the contract. He asked for additional 10 cents for each candy that was delivered on the first lot.
BRIEF ANSWER
In this case, Joseph was the one who breached the contract first. The nature and characteristics of candy were clearly mentioned in the contract. However, Joseph delivered the candies that were different from the stated one. On contrary to this, there is a mistake from the Steve’s side as well. Before storing the second lot of candy, he should have checked it. Without checking the product, he accepted them and stored in a store room with higher temperature. Since both the parties have acted differently than that was guided by the contract, both the parties must find the solution to the problem.
DISCUSSION
The contract between two parties can happen when two parties have a mutual agreement of offer and acceptance in both written and oral form (Chen-Wishart, 2005). There is various other consideration in the contract that makes it valid. Some of these criteria are the capacity, mutual consent, consideration, and legality.
If we analyze the contract that happened between Joseph and Steve, then we can conclude that the contract is valid in every aspect. Many of the terms were scripted in the paper while few of the terms were orally agreed. Joseph had agreed to deliver the candies to Steve as per the requirement of Steve at a price of 40 cents per candy. The offer was made by Steve to buy the candy at 40 cents and Joseph accepted and agreed to deliver 3000 candy bars to Steve.
It is not always important to have all the things written in the paper for the contract to be valid. While many terms were written but there were some terms that were agreed verbally (Stone, 2013).
The contract was breached by Joseph so he literally cannot sue Steve. Steve had clearly stated about the nature and type of candy he wanted from Joseph. But, without any agreement from Steve, Joseph delivered a different kind of candy in the second lot. So, there is a breach of contract from Joseph himself. It is illogical to say that Steve has breached the contract and sue him for compensation.
On the other hand, Steve has also committed a mistake. As stated before, the agreement can be written or oral. Offer and acceptance can be both in terms of oral and written form. When Joseph delivered a different kind of candies, Steve has accepted and stored them in his store. This means that Steve has accepted the delivery of different kind of candies. He must have checked it before storing in his store. It is a general trend or phenomena to check the goods before accepting them. Since he has stored it in his storeroom, Steve has accepted the products. So, he cannot reject the goods. He must pay for the candies that he has received.
So, either party must sit together before suing each other because both of them has diverted from the terms of the contract. However, Steve remains in the stronger position in this case because the first breach of the contract was from the side of Joseph. If they fail to find the consensus result, then even if Joseph files a case in the court, it is very likely that the decision would be made in the favor of Steve. Steve can sue Joseph for the damage of the candies due to heat since Joseph failed to inform Steve about the special handling requirement.
CONCLUSION
It is very important for each of the parties of the contract to adhere to the terms of the contract. The terms and conditions must be followed to the dot. If either of the parties breaches the contract, then it might lead to financial consequences or the legal consequences. The contract was violated by both Joseph as well as Steve so they will have to face legal consequence. All the elements of the valid contract must be respected. Apart from that, the ethics of business must be held high. One cannot deliver low-quality goods or goods of different nature. In the case of the breach of the contract, two parties can discuss and solve the issue or take the case to court where the court can make an appropriate and fair decision.
Reference
Chen-Wishart, M. (2005). Contract law. Oxford [UK: Oxford University Press.
Stone, R. (2013). The Modern Law of Contract. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis.
