What is the eu Law?

The EC Treaty is directly applicable in every Member State. Accession to (membership of) the Community limits the power of national governments and affects national sovereignty – the power to govern. Community law has supremacy over, that is, overrides, national law. The Single European Act 1986 made provisions (legal conditions) creating an obligation on the Community to take the necessary measures to achieve the Internal Market. Under Article 249 (ex Art 189) there are the following types of legal act which the Community may use:

• Regulations – have general application and are binding in their entirety on all Member States and have direct effect, meaning they automatically become law in Member States.

• Directives – are binding on Member States as to their result but do not bind individuals until they have been transposed into national law (implemented).

• Decisions of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) – are binding on those to whom they are addressed.

• Recommendations and opinions – have no binding force but may be persuasive, that is, have influence.

Unit 4 contracts

TEXT A

Practically every personal business activity involves a contract: an enrollment in college, the purchase of a color TV, the renting of an apartment. In each transaction relating to the acquisition of raw materials, their manufacture, and the distribution of the finished product by businesses, there are contracts that define the relationship and the rights and obligations of the parties.

A contract is a binding agreement. The substance of the definition of the contract is that by mutual agreement the parties create enforceable duties or obligations that are legally binding. That is each party is obligated to do or to refrain from doing certain acts.

Typically, in order to be enforceable, a contract must involve the following elements: a ‘meeting of the minds’ (mutual consent), offer and acceptance, mutual consideration (the mutual exchange of something of value) and good faith.

A ‘Meeting of Minds’ (Mutual Consent).

The parties to the contract have a mutual understanding of what the contract covers. For example, in a contract for the sale of a ‘mustang’, the buyer thinks he will obtain a car and the seller believes he is contracting to sell a horse, there is no meeting of minds and the contract will likely be held unenforceable.

Offer and Acceptance.

The contract involves an offer (or more than one offer) to another party, who accepts the offer. For example, in a contract for the sale of a piano, the seller may offer the piano to the buyer for $ 1,000.00. The buyer’s acceptance of that offer is a necessary part of creating a binding contract for the sale of the piano.

Mutual Consideration (The mutual exchange of something of value).

In order to be valid, the parties to a contract must exchange something of value. In the case of the sale of a piano, the buyer receives the piano, and the seller receives money.

Good Faith.

It is implicit within all contracts that the parties are acting in good faith. For example, if the seller of a ‘mustang’ knows that the buyer thinks he is purchasing a car, but secretly intends to sell the buyer a horse, the seller is not acting in good faith and the contract will not be enforceable.

A person who makes a promise is the promisor, and a person to whom a promise is made is called the promisee. The parties to a contract are said to stand in privity with each other, and the relationship between them is termed privity of contract.

The parties to a contract by which one person agrees that another may occupy a house upon the payment of money are called landlord and tenant, or lessor and lessee, and the contract between them is known as a lease. Other parties have their distinctive names, such as vendor and vendee, for the parties to a sales contract; shipper and carrier, for the parties to a transportation contract; and insurer and insured, for the parties to an insurance policy. A party to a contract may be an individual, a partnership, a corporation, or a government.

TEXT B

A contract is based upon an agreement. An agreement arises when one person, the offeror, makes an offer and the person to whom the offer is made, the offeree, accepts. An offeror may make an offer to a particular person or it may be made to the public at large.

It is frequently said that a meeting of minds is essential to an agreement or a contract. Modern courts do not stress the meeting of the minds, however, because in some situations the law finds an agreement even though the minds of the parties have not in fact met.

Contracts can be classified as formal or informal contracts. Formal contracts are enforced because the formality with which they are executed is considered sufficient to signify that the parties intend to be bound by their terms.

Simple contracts may be classified in terms of the way in which they are created, as express contracts or implied contracts. An express contract is one in which the agreement of the parties is manifested by their words, whether spoken or written. An implied contract is one in which the agreement is not shown by words, written or spoken, but by the acts and conduct of the parties. Such a contract arises when one person renders services under circumstances indicating that payment for them is expected, and the other person, knowing such circumstances, accepts the benefit of those services.

Contracts may be classified in terms of enforceability or validity. A valid contract is an agreement that is binding and enforceable. Avoidable contract is an agreement that otherwise binding and enforceable but, because of circumstances surrounding its execution or the lack of capacity of one the parties, it may be rejected at the option of one of the parties. A void agreement is without legal effect.

Contracts may be classified in terms of the extent to which they have been performed, as executed contracts and executory contracts. An executed contract is one that has been completely performed. In an executory contract, something remains to be done by one or both parties.

In making an offer, if the offeror extends a promise and asks for a promise in return and if the offeree accepts the offer by making the promise, the contract is called a bilateral contract because one promise is given in exchange for another and each party is bound by the obligation. As only one party is obligated to perform after the contract has been made, this kind of contract is called a unilateral contract.