Adamova Olena,

«Contract Law (England and Wales)»

Candidate of Law,

Associated professor of Civil Law Department of

National University “Odessa Academy of Law”

Адамова Олена Семенівна

„Контрактне право Англії та Уельсу”

Кандидат юридичних наук, доцент кафедри цивільного права Національного університету «Одеська юридична академія»

Introduction

We enter into contracts day after day. Taking a seat in a bus amounts to entering into a contract. When you put a coin in the slot of a weighing machine, you have entered into a contract. You go to a restaurant and take snacks, you have entered into a contract. In such cases, we do not even realise that we are making a contract. In the case of people engaged in trade, commerce and industry, they carry on business by entering into contracts.

The law of contracts differs from other branches of law in a very important respect. It does not lay down so many precise rights and duties which the law will protect and enforce; it contains rather a number of limiting principles, subject to which the parties may create rights and duties for themselves, and the law will uphold those rights and duties. Thus, we can say that the parties to a contract, in a sense make the law for themselves. So long as they do not transgress some legal prohibition, they can frame any rules they like in regard to the subject matter of their contract and the law will give effect to their contract.

The legal course «Contract Law» covers all main essential aspects of the written standards pro­duced for the course of «Contract Law» in England and Wales.

The course is aimed at comprehensive study of the purpose and nature of contract law in England and Wales.

The course deals with requirements for the making of a contract, content of a contract and regulation of terms, the capacity to contract, remedies for breach of contract. Some institutions will teach, or persuade the students to teach themselves, the knowledge of the matters of whole contracting process.

The purpose of the guide is to take students through each topic in the syllabus for Contract law in a way which will help to understand the matter of contract law. The guide is intended to ‘wrap around’ the recommended textbooks and casebook. It provides an outline of the major issues presented in this subject. Each chapter presents the most important aspects of the topic and provides guidance as to essential and further reading.

There are also sample questions and topics for essays, which will assist in getting credit preparation.

At the end of the course the students will have developed the knowledge of

• the concept of contract developed, together with an associated body of legal doctrine, which is now referred to as the “classical law of contract”;

• specific elements, which are regarded as both necessary and sufficient to identify an agreement which is intended to be legally binding;

• the concept of the “deed”;

• the contents of the contract;

• the matter, main purpose of damages and the rules of compensation;

• the remedies available in contracts, in particular, the principles for the award of damages and interest on damages, and injunctions and interim injunctions.

Lecture course lecture 1. An Introduction to Contract Law

(2 hrs)