1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,160 Hi, you're listening to the Australian Law Student Law in 2 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:06,520 Four podcast. Your go to podcast for legal 3 00:00:06,520 --> 00:00:10,560 insights in 4 minutes or less. I'm Nick Hodgkinson and today 4 00:00:10,800 --> 00:00:14,280 we're starting our fantastic foray into contract law with a 5 00:00:14,280 --> 00:00:18,760 discussion on agreement. But first, our obligatory 6 00:00:18,760 --> 00:00:20,880 disclaimer. The Law in Four is produced by 7 00:00:20,880 --> 00:00:24,040 law students. For law students, it is not, nor 8 00:00:24,040 --> 00:00:26,480 is it intended to constitute legal advice. 9 00:00:26,920 --> 00:00:29,560 If you require legal assistance, you should contact your local 10 00:00:29,560 --> 00:00:32,000 Law Society, who can direct you appropriately. 11 00:00:32,479 --> 00:00:34,960 For more information on the Australian law student, visit 12 00:00:34,960 --> 00:00:40,080 our website at the ozlawstudent.com OK, let's kick 13 00:00:40,080 --> 00:00:43,400 things off with offers. An offer, as distinguished from 14 00:00:43,400 --> 00:00:46,360 an invitation to treat, signifies A willingness to enter 15 00:00:46,360 --> 00:00:49,360 into a bargain with the intention to be bound without 16 00:00:49,360 --> 00:00:51,080 further negotiation on the terms. 17 00:00:51,840 --> 00:00:54,760 You might like to consider how the Court applied offer and 18 00:00:54,760 --> 00:00:58,000 acceptance analysis differently in the cases of shop sales with 19 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:01,480 Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain and ticket cases with 20 00:01:01,480 --> 00:01:03,480 Mcrobertson, Miller Airline Services. 21 00:01:04,840 --> 00:01:08,120 In determining whether an offer exists, the reasonable person's 22 00:01:08,120 --> 00:01:11,640 standard comes into play, as seen in Carlisle and Carbolic 23 00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:14,280 Smokeball Company. If a reasonable person would 24 00:01:14,280 --> 00:01:16,920 understand the language of the offer to be sufficiently clear, 25 00:01:17,160 --> 00:01:20,760 sincere, and promissory, then an offer is likely to be present. 26 00:01:21,920 --> 00:01:25,080 What about rescinding offers? Well, offers incompletely 27 00:01:25,080 --> 00:01:28,640 accepted can be revoked without penalty, as observed in Mobil 28 00:01:28,640 --> 00:01:30,840 Oil Australia and Welcome International. 29 00:01:31,240 --> 00:01:34,000 However, if there is an ancillary contract not to 30 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:36,720 revoke, then the unaccepted contract may remain 31 00:01:36,720 --> 00:01:40,440 unenforceable when a counter offer comes into play. 32 00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:43,720 The conflict approach implies that a counter offer rejects or 33 00:01:43,720 --> 00:01:47,480 terminates the original offer. In Butler Machine Tool Company 34 00:01:47,600 --> 00:01:50,760 and XLO Corp, it's shown that acceptance occurs when the 35 00:01:50,760 --> 00:01:54,040 offeree signs and returns the counter offer, indicating their 36 00:01:54,040 --> 00:01:57,000 agreement. If we shift gears now to 37 00:01:57,000 --> 00:02:00,440 acceptance, acceptance is defined as an act by the offeree 38 00:02:00,440 --> 00:02:03,720 that indicates their unequivocal and final assent to the offer. 39 00:02:06,040 --> 00:02:09,759 Silence upon receipt isn't sufficient to form a contract. 40 00:02:10,120 --> 00:02:14,000 As demonstrated in Felt, House and Bindley Manifesto, descent 41 00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:16,000 is required for offer and acceptance. 42 00:02:16,680 --> 00:02:20,160 Acceptance can also take place via conduct where the offeree 43 00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:23,720 knows the detailed terms, benefits from the offer, and has 44 00:02:23,720 --> 00:02:25,800 a reasonable opportunity to project the terms. 45 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:29,080 As seen in Imperial Holdings and Mark and Paul Partners, 46 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:33,400 acceptance by post or electronic communication varies, with 47 00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:35,520 postal acceptance occurring upon posting. 48 00:02:35,520 --> 00:02:38,640 Where the postal method is contemplated by the parties, as 49 00:02:38,640 --> 00:02:43,600 in Hentthorne and Fraser, NSW, electronic communications are 50 00:02:43,600 --> 00:02:46,720 governed by the Electronic Transactions Act 2000. 51 00:02:48,160 --> 00:02:51,560 When offer and acceptance are unclear, we apply the ACID test 52 00:02:52,280 --> 00:02:55,160 per brambles Holdings in Bathurst City Council. 53 00:02:55,520 --> 00:02:58,760 Mutual assent may be inferred if a reasonable person in each 54 00:02:58,760 --> 00:03:02,000 party's position sees a concluded bargain despite the 55 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:04,080 moment of formation being indeterminable. 56 00:03:04,760 --> 00:03:07,840 OK, and with that, we've unpacked the intricate dance of 57 00:03:07,840 --> 00:03:10,760 offer and acceptance. Understanding these nuances is 58 00:03:10,760 --> 00:03:13,360 key to navigating the legal landscape of contract law. 59 00:03:14,040 --> 00:03:17,640 Join us next time for more legal insights on the Australian Law, 60 00:03:17,640 --> 00:03:21,160 Student Law and Four Podcast. As always, if you have any 61 00:03:21,160 --> 00:03:26,520 suggestions, please e-mail us at team@theozlawstudent.com or 62 00:03:26,520 --> 00:03:30,000 leave a comment in your review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.