Problematic question and suggested answering technique for LAW240 PDF

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Problematic question and suggested answering technique.Shaza advertised her Acer laptop for sale in a newspaper for RM5000. Malik came across the advertisement and went to Shaza’s house to buy the laptop. Shaza however, refused to sell the laptop and Malik wishes to sue Shaza for breach of contract....

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Problematic question and suggested answering technique. Shaza advertised her Acer laptop for sale in a newspaper for RM5000. Malik came across the advertisement and went to Shaza’s house to buy the laptop. Shaza however, refused to sell the laptop and Malik wishes to sue Shaza for breach of contract. Advise Shaza. Structure of the answer: 1. Read the question carefully and identify the relevant topic of discussion – ITT, offer and acceptance. 2. Write an issue based on the given situation – the issue in the situation is whether Malik can sue Syaza for breach of contract? Whether there is a valid agreement in the situation? 3. State the relevant Principle of law – student has to provide relevant points based on the issue. First, state the relevant statute/ Act that governs law of contract in Malaysia. Principle of law means refer to the specific sections, General Rule and its exceptions, supporting cases or certain conditions that are relevant to the question. 4. Application of the principle of law to the situation given. First, identify the parties and apply the principle of law above to solve the problems. 5. Conclusion. Give advice to the person based on the above discussion. The conclusion must be able to answer the issue stated in the beginning. The required structure: Issus:Whether Malik can sue Syaza for breach of contract or Whether there is a valid agreement in the situation? Principle of Law:

Define ITT, define offer according section 2(a) and acceptance under section 2(b) of Contract Act 1950. Examples of ITT – advertisement and compared with offer. Only advertisement that advertises reward constitute as an offer otherwise it is ITT. Discuss Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball Co and Coelho V The Public Service Commission.

Application:

Identify the nature of advertisement in the question given i.e whether it is an offer or ITT? Explain the process how does the situation given lead to offer by using principles suggested in Coelho’s case. Does acceptance has happened?

Conclusion:

Determine whether there is a contract or not and if there is no contract Malik cannot sue Syaza for breach of contract.

Converting the structure into an essay: The issue in the situation given is whether Malik can sue Syaza for breach of contract. The relevant principles law is according to Contracts Act 1950. Section 2(a) states that when one person signifies to another his willingness to do or abstain from doing anything, with view to obtaining the assent of the other, he is said to make a proposal or offer. ITT is not an offer but merely inviting a person to make an offer first. An example of ITT is advertisement. Offer on the other hand is a proposal that capable of being turned into a contract by acceptance as in section 2 (b). Based on Carlill V Carbolic Smoke Ball Co’s case, an advertisement may constitute an offer if it advertises a reward. This case was about Mrs Carlill who bought the Carbolic Smoke Ball based on the advertisement which advertised the instructions of using the Carbolic Smoke Ball to prevent influenza. The advertisement further explained that any person who still caught the influenza after using the Smoke Ball would be given cash back of 100 pounds sterling. In this case the court held that Mrs Carlill entitle for the cash back as the nature of advertisement was an offer which is capable of being turned into a contract by acceptance. However, in Coelho V the Public Service Commissioner, the job advertisement in newspaper consider as ITT to qualified person to apply. The application made by the plaintiff is an offer and acceptance only made by the authorized person. Based on the facts given, the advertisement of Acer laptop for RM5,000 consider as ITT since there is no purpose of giving the reward as in the case of Coelho. Applying section 2(a), the offer was made by Malik but, Syaza refused to accept the offer which shows that there is no acceptance. Hence, there is no contract between Malik and Syaza and therefore, Syaza is not liable to sell her laptop to Malik. In conclusion, Malik cannot sue Syaza for breach of contract.

TRY THIS: Pak Jabit lost his Brazilian Shorthair Cat, Comel. He advertised a reward of RM500 in the local newspaper, Facebook and Twitter for it return. Mak Limah, Pak Jabit neighbor, who was cleaning her backyard found the cat up on her rambutan tree. Five days later, Mak Limah knew about the reward advertisement and she returned Comel to Pak Jabit. Pak Jabit refused to pay RM500. Advise Mak Limah whether she can claim the reward from Pak Jabit. Issue: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------PL: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Application: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Conclusion: -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------...