Rules of the law of contract

• Contracts


  Agreements or promises which are legally binding
• Not all promises are contractual, and the aim of contract law is to distinguish those promises that can be enforced, from those that cannot
• Basic Definition of a contract

  Any agreement or promise which is legally binding
• The law of contract aims to

  Provide safety for people who are let down by parties failing to fulfil their promises
• To enable society to run freely
• Contract


  Can alternatively be called a bargain. One party makes a promise in return for the promise of the other – one party will have paid some sort of price for the promise of the other. This "price" need not always be financial.
• Where a contract "goes wrong"


  The aim of contract law is to compensate innocent parties and put them in the position they would have been in had the contract been performed
• The freedom of contract principle can be limited by legislation, such as Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977, to ensure the notion of fairness is upheld
• Must take into account S.3 which states "so far as is possible to do so, primary legislation and subordinate legislation must be read and given effect in a way which is compatible with Convention Rights"
• Held that a contract cannot deprive a person of their possessions except in the public interest as contained under Article one (of Protocol No.1) of the European Convention on Human Rights
• Article one – Protection of property


  Every natural or legal person is entitled to the peaceful enjoyment of his possessions
• A range of European Directives have been passed in the notion of promoting a harmonious internal market and these have had a huge influence on UK contract law, particularly in relation to consumer law
• The UK is no longer in the EU and the full impact of this remains to be seen however the UK is no longer part of the EU's single market
• The Common European Sales Law (CESL) (codified contract system) draft was published in 2011, the idea being to remove the barriers in place between Member States wanting to do business with each other
• The CESL was withdrawn in 2015, and a modified proposal was introduced, with the aim to unleash the potential of ecommerce and create a digital single market
• Digital single market


  Allows traders to rely on their National contract laws but also creates a set of key mandatory EU contractual rights for cross-border sales. (UK no longer a member of this single market – new laws in place for export and import of goods with UK and EU)
• European Law has also been influential in regulating online shopping in the UK, and the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 were as a direct result of EU legislation