Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 73 – Essential Elements of a Contract
Essential Elements of a Contract
Transcript:
Hello!
Please pay attention to the vocabulary used to define the essential elements of a contract in the UK.
Legal scholars agree that there are 5 essential elements of a contract in the UK. These are:
Offer: A contract begins with one party making an offer to another, indicating a willingness (volontà) to enter into an agreement under certain terms;
Acceptance: Acceptance of this offer must be clear and unambiguous, forming mutual assent (assenso reciproco) between the parties. Acceptance must mirror the offer and not be a counteroffer;
Consideration (più o meno corrispettivo; più o meno sinallagma): Each party must provide something of value, whether it is goods, services, money, or a promise to do or refrain (astenersi) from doing something. This exchange of value distinguishes a contract from a gift or a unilateral promise. Consideration must be sufficient, but need not be adequate. It is legal to sell a Ferrari for £1,00;
Intention: Both parties must intend for the agreement to have legal consequences and to create legal relationships. Social and domestic
agreements generally lack (non hanno) this intention, but commercial agreements are presumed to have it unless proven otherwise;
Capacity: Parties entering into a contract must have the legal capacity to do so. This means they must be of sound mind (sani di mente), of legal age (maggiorenni), and not under duress (costrizione) or undue influence (influenza indebita).
Some legal scholars add 3 additional elements. These are:
Legality: The purpose of the contract and its terms must not violate any laws or public policy (public policy). Contracts to commit illegal acts or that are against public interest are unenforceable (inefficaci).
Certainty: The terms of the contract must be clear and sufficiently definite for a court to enforce them. Vague or ambiguous terms can lead to disputes and render the contract unenforceable.
Consent: Both parties must enter into the contract freely and without mistake (errore), misrepresentation (travisamento), or coercion (coercizione).
Thank you very much, and see you next time for more Peter’s Pills to improve your legal English.
Read more about the essential elements of a contact in Part 1 of this book: “Contract Law” (.PDF).
Legal English – Sommario delle Lezioni
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 73 – Essential Elements of a Contract
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 72 – Types of cases: Cornerstone and Milestone cases
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 71 – Types of cases: Landmark cases
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 70 – Specific performance
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 69 – Wills
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 68 – Notice
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 67 – Bonds vs Debentures
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 66 – Person Persons People
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 65 – Financial Reporting Words
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 64 – Representations and Warranties
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 63 – Machine translations
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 62 – Legal Timelines
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 61 – Liens
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 60 – Test your Legal English
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 59 – Appurtenent vs In gross
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 58 – Building societies and Banks
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 57 – Valid, void and voidable contracts
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 56 – Rescission
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 55 – Golden expressions
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 54 – Pre-emption right vs Right of first refusal
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 53 – What do we mean by “agent” of a company?
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 52 – Voting at a meeting
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 51 – Contracts vs Deeds
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 50 – Executive and Non-Executive Directors
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 49 – Transfer of shares vs transmission of shares
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 48 – They, them, their for singular nouns
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 47 – Jointly and severally
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 46 – Invoice words
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 45 – Quotation
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 44 – Gazumping and Gazundering
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 43 – English words that the English do not understand
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 42 – Easement vs Profit à prendre
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 41 – er, -or and -ee names
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 40 – The Objects Clause
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 39 – When is Latin hot, and when is it not?
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 38 – Default
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 37 – Company Agent
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 36 – Injunction (false freind)
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 35 – Mortgage
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 34 – Freehold, Leasehold and Commonhold estates
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 33 – Transferor, Transferee and Transmittee
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 32 – Tax evasion, tax mitigation and tax avoidance
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 31 – Numbers
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 30 – Ordinary resolutions vs special resolutions
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 29 – AGM vs EGM
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 28 – A going concern
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 27 – Collocations: Violate, breach, break, disobey and infringe
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 26 – Company meeting words
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 25 – Mortgagor vs Mortgagee
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 24 – Fixed charges vs Floating charges
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 23 – Doctrine
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 22 – Construe
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 21 – Sign vs Execute
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 20 – The closing statement
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 19 – Writing Business Emails
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 18 – Limited companies
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 17 – Annual Accounts
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 16 – Meetings
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 15 – Attorney-at-law vs Attorney-in-fact
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 14 – Here and there compounds
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 13 – Subject Matter
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 12 – The clear days rule
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 11 – Shareholder, Member or Holder of shares?
Legal English: Peter’s Pills – Lesson 10 – Competition Law
Legal English: Peter’s Pills – Lesson 9 – Lasting Power of Attorney
Legal English: Peter’s Pills – Lesson 8 – Guardianship
Legal English: Peter’s Pills – Lesson 7 – Damage vs Damages
Legal English: Peter’s Pills – Lesson 6 – Legal Doublets
Legal English: Peter’s Pills – Lesson 5 – Escrow
Legal English: Peter’s Pills – Lesson 4 – Memorandum of Association vs Articles of Association
Legal English: Peter’s Pills – Lesson 3 – Sign legibly
Legal English: Peter’s Pills – Lesson 2 – Deed poll
Legal English: Peter’s Pills – Lesson 1 – Party, counterparty and counterpart
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