Professional Documents
Culture Documents
MALAYSIA - An Overview
SOURCES OF LAW
Legislation / Statute / Act of
Parliament
Contracts Act 1950 (CA 1950)
LECTURE COVERAGE
Elements of a Contract
Voidable Contracts
Terms of Contract
Discharge of Contracts
1. ELEMENTS
Proposal / Offer
Acceptance
Consideration
Intention to Create Legal Relations
Capacity
Legality
Certainty
ELEMENT (i) :
PROPOSAL / OFFER (Tawaran)
Section 2(1) Contracts Act 1950: when one person signifies to
Advertisements
Coelho v the Public Services Commission (1964) job
advertisement in the Malay Mail.
Carlill v Carbolic Smokeball Co Ltd (1893) advert in
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(1965)
counter offer Hyde v Wrench (1840)
Facts : D offered 1000, P replied 950. D refused. P then
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Methods of acceptance
In some usual and reasonable manner (s.7)
unless offer states specific method of acceptance, eg in
time (s.7)
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15s.
Held : No valid acceptance, no agreement.
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communication of acceptance
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METHODS OF REVOCATION
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Note:
Offeror can still withdraw offer even if he has promised to keep
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= good consideration.
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Part payment
Kerpa Singh v Bariam Singh (1966)
Facts: A owed B $8650. Later As son offered to pay $4000 as
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v. CAPACITY (Keupayaan
Keupayaan))
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Exceptions
Contracts for NECESSARIES suitable to
his condition in life (status)
Contracts for SCHOLARSHIP
Contracts for INSURANCE with written
parental consent.
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vi. LEGALITY
Where consideration / object of agreement is unlawful,
i. forbidden by law
ii. involves injury to person / property of another
iii. immoral purposes
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2. VOIDABLE CONTRACTS
s.13 : Two or more persons are said to consent when
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i. COERCION (duress)
s.15 : committing, or threatening to commit any act
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Example
where a contract is made with a person whose mental capacity is
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iii. MISREPRESENTATION
Section 18
A person makes a statement which is not true, though he
believes it to be true.
or
If he knows it is not true / does not believe it to be true
fraud.
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turns out that the horse was dead at the time of the bargain,
though neither party was aware of the fact. The agreement is
void.
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3. TERMS OF CONTRACT
ie, contents of contract
Express terms
as agreed between the parties
orally or in writing.
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Implied terms
Implied by the Sale
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actually saw the car before agreeing to buy. Later, he discovered that the
rear half was part of a 1961 Herald Convertible, but the front half was a
part of an earlier model.
Despite having seen the car, the court held that there was a breach and
granted damages to the buyer since the buyer relied on the description
given by the seller.
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4. DISCHARGE
ie, to end / terminate the contract.
4 ways
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
Performance
Agreement
Breach
Frustration
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I.
BY PERFORMANCE
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II.
BY AGREEMENT
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III.
BY BREACH
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ILLUSTRATION
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EFFECT
A breach of contract
The other party may take legal action for breach
of contract.
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IV.
BY FRUSTRATION
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2 CATEGORIES
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EXAMPLE : DESTRUCTION OF
SUBJECT MATTER
Taylor v Caldwell (1863)
Facts : After contract was entered into, music
hall (subject matter of contract) burnt down
before date of concert.
Held : Contract frustrated.
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EXAMPLE : PERFORMANCE
BECOMES UNLAWFUL
Berney v Tronoh Mines Ltd (1949)
Facts : a contract of employment was discharged
when Japan occupied Malaya during WW2.
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EXAMPLE OF SUPERVENING
EVENT WHICH DEFEATS THE
WHOLE PURPOSE OF CONTRACT
norliza abdul hamid / 2015
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EFFECT OF FRUSTRATION
Contract becomes void.
Section 66 : Any person who has received any benefit /
advantage, is bound to restore it, or to compensate for
it to the person whom he received it from.
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HOWEVER:
One party may not sue the other, because
contract is not breached.
The frustrating event was not due to anybody's
fault.
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