Regulatory Requirements:Contract Law


Essential Elements of a Contract
Breach of Contract
Classification of Contracts
Special Types of ContractsThe Law of Contracts is the basis of business law because the bulk of transactions of the people engaged in trade, commerce and industry is based on contracts. In India, the Law of Contracts is contained in the Indian Contract Act,1872. The Act lays down the general principles relating to formation, performance and enforceability of contracts and the rules relating to certain special types of contracts like, Indemnity and Guarantee; Bailment and Pledge, and Agency. The Partnership Act; the Sale of Goods Act; the Negotiable Instruments Act; the Companies Act, though technically belonging to the Law of Contracts, have been covered by separate enactments. However, the general principles of the Contract Law are the basis for all such contracts as well.
The principal features of the Law of Contract are:-
The parties to the contract make the law for themselves.
The Act is not exhaustive since it does not take into its purview all the relevant legislations.
It does not override customs or usages.
The Law of Contracts is not the whole law of agreements.
As per the Indian Contract Act,1872, a "contract" is an agreement enforceable by law. The agreements not enforceable by law are not contracts. An "agreement" means 'a promise or a set of promises' forming consideration for each other. And a promise arises when a proposal is accepted. By implication, an agreement is an accepted proposal. In other words, an agreement consists of an 'offer' and its 'acceptance'.
An "offer" is the starting point in the process of making an agreement. Every agreement begins with one party making an offer to sell something or to provide a service, etc. When one person who desires to create a legal obligation, communicates to another his willingness to do or not to do a thing, with a view to obtaining the consent of that other person towards such an act or abstinence, the person is said to be making a proposal or offer.
An agreement emerges from the acceptance of the offer. "Acceptance" is thus, the second stage of completing a contract. An acceptance is the act of manifestation by the offeree of his assent to the terms of the offer. It signifies the offeree's willingness to be bound by the terms of the proposal communicated to him. To be valid an acceptance must correspond exactly with the terms of the offer, it must be unconditional and absolute and it must be communicated to the offeror.
An "agreement" is a contract if 'it is made by the free consent of parties competent to contract, for a lawful consideration and with a lawful object, and is not expressly declared to be void'. The contract must be definite and its purpose should be to create a legal relationship. The parties to a contract must have the legal capacity to make it. According to the Contract Act, " Every person is competent to contract who is of the age of majority according to the law to which he is subject, and who is of a sound mind, and is not disqualified from contracting by any law to which he is subject". Thus, minors; persons of unsound mind and Persons disqualified from contracting by any law are incompetent to contract.
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Related Links:
Ministry of Law & Justice
Indian Contract Act, 1872
The Companies Act, 1956
The Partnership Act 1932
The Sale of Goods Act 1930
The Negotiable Instruments Act 1881


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