Law for Engineers: Analysis of Contract Law

Law for Engineers: Analysis of Contract Law Jonathan Phang Then Sien Area of Law The law involved in the case at hand is contract law, specifically involving commercial or business matters where both parties, Deveraux and Havana Moon Mechatronic Engineering Pty Ltd intend to be legally bounded. Principle of Law For a contract to be valid and legally enforceable, there must exist essential elements of intention to create legal relations, agreement plus consideration between parties. The requirement of intention to create legal relations determine if a case is legally enforceable by differentiating between domestic or social matters and commercial or business matters. As in Edwards v Skyways [1964] 1 WLR 349, the claimant, a pilot who worked with the defendant is being asked to retire. However, the defendant reneged on a promise made to the claimant that, if the claimant withdrew his contribution on the company pension fund, he would be paid the equivalent of contribution in an ex gratia payment. It was held by court, an agreement was made in business context, thus the agreement is consequently presumed legally bounded and enforceable. The next element for a contract to be effective is there must be agreement between parties. An agreement is established when there is a meeting of the minds, where both parties are agreeing to the same thing and cleared about what are they agreeing to (Khoury Yamouni 2010). It is often being interpreted in terms of offer and acceptance, when offeror makes an offer and accepted by offeree, a binding contract is created. In contrast, invitation to treat is no mean an offer. In Partridge v Crittenden [1968] 2 All ER 421, an advertisement was advertised as Bramblefinch cocks, hens -25s each, it was judged as an invitation to treat instead of offer hence the seller did not prohibitly selling the birds. Besides, the Rule of Signature state that a contract should at least partially in writing to note the legal effect of a signed document and indicate that it is agreed and cleared on both party. In LEstrange v Graucob [1934] 2 KB 394, L bought a defective vending machine and signed without reading the agreement, which the agreement did mentioned not responsible for defects. He then raised the case, but the court held that since he signed the agreement, it indicate he understood all the terms and thus there was no breach of contract. In fact, intention and agreement alone are not enough to make an effective contract. Instead, an agreement must be supported by consideration where parties on both side must promise for a promise or act for a promise or promise for an act and vice versa. In Currie v Misa (1875) LR 10 Exch 153, it was stated that each party to a contract much receive a benefit and each suffer a detriment. In contract law of consideration, promise need to be paid before the promise can be legally enforceable (Khoury Yamouni 2010). It is simply a price for a promise. This principle also known as doctrine of consideration requires a party to a simple contract must provide consideration before that contract can be enforced. Following are the several rules that govern the doctrine of consideration (Gibson Fraser, 2007). First, consideration must not be past. This is simply due to past consideration is something that already been done which is unable to be form as a part of the current or future bargain element. In Re McArdle (1951) Ch 669, Majorie ran some renovation on a bungalow that was left on trust for her husband and his siblings. After the renovation, Majories husband and his sibling agreed to pay Majorie 480 pound for the renovation from the proceeds of sale of the bungalow, thus they signed a document stating the consideration. However, the payment was never paid. A court was appealed and held that the promise was made after the consideration and ceased with an ineffective past consideration. Similarly, in Roscorla v Thomas (1842) 3 QB 234, the plaintiff bought a horse from the defendant, but only asked about the condition of the horse after transaction made. Later the plaintiff found that the horse is abnormally violent and ask for a refund. As the court held, it is obvious that the promise made after contract was formed, hence the consideration was a past and never was a part of the contract. Therefrom, the plaintiff could not enforce on the promise made. Though, a past consideration also can be valid if it is proceeded by a request or something is accomplished in business context and both party were agreed to the terms. In Lampleigh v Braithwaite [1615] EWHC KB J17, Braithwaite committed a murder and then requested Lampleigh to obtain him a pardon. Lampleigh managed get the pardon for Braithwaite and he promised to pay Lampleigh 100 pound, but it was never paid. It was held, although the promise to make payment came after the consideration, which is treated as a past consideration, Braithwaite is obliged to pay Lampleigh because the consideration was proceeded by request. Likewise, in Ipex Software Services Pty Ltd Ors v Hosking [2000] VSCA 239, as per agreed between Hosking and Ipex, Hosking will merge his software company with Ipex and shares in Ipex would be transferred to him as return. However, merge have been accomplished by Hosking before a written agreement regarding the share transfer been made. Subsequently, Hosking sue to enforce agreement on Ipex for refusing to transfer the shares. Soon the court held that the agreement was legally enforceable as Hosking was informed in the first place that he would be granted the shares in the new merged company. Secondly, consideration must move from the promisee. This imply that the plaintiff who wish to enforce the contract must prove that the consideration is provided by him and him only. It will not valid if consideration is from third party or agreement enforcement request is done by third party. For example, in Tweddle v Atkinson [1861] EWHC QB J57, the father of bride came into an agreement with the father of the groom that they will pay the newlyweds a sum of money. But the bridges father died before payment was made. The grooms father also died soon after hence, no enforcement was done on the contract. Following, the groom sought enforcement on the agreement but failed as it was held that, first the groom was not part of the agreement, and secondly the consideration did not move from the groom. Finally, a new promise of consideration is not entitled if there is existing contractual duty. In Stilk v Myvick [1809] EWHC KB J58, during a voyage two of the twelve crew deserted the ship. The captain then promised the remaining crew to split the wages of the deserted crews and the claimant was one of the remaining crew. When the voyage is completed, the captain never paid up.ÂÂ   As the claimant was already under existing duty to work on the voyage, the captain was not obliged for the payment. Yet, if the party performed beyond their contractual duty, a new promise of consideration maybe valid. In Hartley v Ponsonby [1857] 7 EB 872, as half of the ship crew deserted the ship, the captain promised the remaining half of the crew getting paid extra when they sailed the ship back. The captain then refused for the extra payment. It was held the promise is enforceable because the crew performed beyond their duty to replace the deserted crews. Applying the Law From the beginning of the case at hand, it can be seen both parties had serious intention to create a legal relation. There was a meeting between Deveraux and Havana Moon Mechatronic Engineering management team regarding Deverauxs issue, in which it was in a business context. It was then Deveraux successfully negotiated the pay increase. A negotiation is simply an invitation to treat rather than an offer. Therefore, no agreement was made as there was no offer like the precedence in Partridge v Crittenden [1968] 2 All ER 421. Plus, no signed document that indicate both parties agreed on the terms hence no effective contract was established as referred In LEstrange v Graucob [1934] 2 KB 394. As for consideration element for Deverauxs, he provided his consideration as his previous work and education. It was made clear that past consideration is not valid because it was not made as an element in the contract, similarly in Re McArdle (1951) Ch 669 and Roscorla v Thomas (1842) 3 QB 234. Although the consideration came from the promisee (Deveraux), but ultimately it is deemed invalid due to it was a past. Furthermore, Deveraux was already had a contractual duty in the company, he was not entitled to have a new promised, similar case happened in Stilk v Myvick [1809] EWHC KB J58. Conclusion The bottom line of Deverauxs case, he cannot enforce the agreement with Havana Moon Mechatronic Engineering due to the fact, there was no valid agreement made nor signed document. Besides, the consideration provided was not valid. Biblography Currie v Misa (1875) LR 10 Exch 153 Edwards v Skyways [1964] 1 WLR 349 Gibson, A. Fraser, D. 2007. Business Law. Frenchs Forest: Pearson Prentice Hall. Hartley v Ponsonby [1857] 7 EB 872 Ipex Software Services Pty Ltd Ors v Hosking [2000] VSCA 239 Khoury, D. Yamouni, Y. S. 2010. Understanding Contract Law 8th ed. Sydney: Butterworths. Lampleigh v Braithwaite [1615] EWHC KB J17 LEstrange v Graucob [1934] 2 KB 394 Partridge v Crittenden [1968] 2 All ER 421 Re McArdle (1951) Ch 669 Roscorla v Thomas (1842) 3 QB 234 Stilk v Myvick [1809] EWHC KB J58 Tweddle v Atkinson [1861] EWHC QB J57 (1504 words excluding bibliography) Do You Trust The Media? Do You Trust The Media? According to the journalist Thomas Carlyle Media is often called the fifth branch of governments After the Congress, the President, the Supreme Court, and the federal bureaucracy, saying that no other institution has such an impact on governments as the media has. Well I think I have to agree with Thomas even though the media members are not elected by the people and its motives are often driven by profit. When we listen or hear the media we tend to believe it because we assume they have done some research and the information we are receiving is true. But media sometimes takes sides for example in the Colombian recent elections the media played a key role in influencing the public vote, since the two main channels in Colombia are owned by wealthy families that preferred Juan Manuel Santos over the other candidates I would probably have to say that is why we saw more propaganda for Santos than for Mockus or any other candidate and also favoritism from the two channels. Media also play s a crucial role in shaping a democracy, democracy being the art of how states related with each other used to be secret but now thanks to media is very public and the government doesnt have its privacy like it used to. Nevertheless, the media can also be good since it makes us aware of various social, political and economical activities happening around us. The media in Latin America has evolved and become more active over the time that is why the modern media reminds politicians about their unfulfilled promises and relations with other countries they promised during elections. For example the Colombian media, when it comes to the war with the guerrilla they cover what politicians do not want us to see because it may be too grotesque and make the population scared, maybe the politicians are right in not lettings us see such grotesque pictures but I think is also important to know what is also happening in the country you live in and most importantly in the world. Television allows us to see live the major political events in fact Television has become so important that is the major platform of communication between political figures and the citizens. Television plays an important role in political socialization, helping both children and adults to acquire knowledge about the political system and how it operates. This type of media has allowed nations economies to rise at unprecedented levels, also accelerating the urbanization trend and lastly it has also influenced the high schools and universities to pour millions of graduates every year. Television with the help of the radio has increased the number of voters for presidential elections since together they have reached less educated and less involved sections of the population. Nowadays we can say that the main role of television is to be a watchdog on government actions since they exercised the greatest influence on governments by pressuring them, in other words television is the bridge be tween the people and the government. But television also has its down sides for example the Latin American society has suffered a crisis of confidence of governmental private documents going public, Due to this Venezuelas president Hugo Chavez has entered to control what journalists are allowed to say in Venezuelas television, He is also controlling the access to the internet keeping the people from Venezuela informed in only what he thinks is good for them to know. Another type of media is the newspaper when I say newspaper I am also referring to magazines like semana. An essential function of the newspaper is to bring us news of all around the world, without newspapers we would be like a baby who knows nothing of the outside world. Newspapers keep citizens informed about the political activities of their governments, they give in detail the statements and the speeches made by presidents or other political figures at public meetings or congresses. Newspapers now a days due to their freedom of speech criticize governments on what they do wrong and advice them. They also describe the economic policies of the government for example they describe its import and export policies, its economic development, and the prices of different things to keep people aware. Newspapers gives the same information as television does, the only difference is that is more detailed and specific. Newspapers also describe the problems of unemployment, farmers struggle wit h the guerrilla. Newspapers also convey information regarding the different crimes taking place every day they inform us about the political, economic and social changes occurring everyday in different countries, They give descriptions of the revolutions in different parts of the world, they provide descriptions of changes taking place in other societies in the fields of education, agriculture and a country defense preparation for war. But not everything is news they also have a space to relax with great comics and crossword puzzles. In the recent years the Internet has not replaced the influence of newspapers, radio, or television. However the internet has an advantage over the older media types since The Internet is an interactive medium that allows citizens to send information as well as receive it in real time, something that television and newspapers dont allow. In Colombias latest election the presidential candidates were able to developed web sites to support their campaigns. They also developed groups in facebook, twitter and many other websites, by this new form of communication presidential candidates were able to reach new audiences on the World Wide Web, creating the potential for an even greater influence in society. We could say that the key word for the Internet and politics is power. The 2010 Colombian presidential campaign demonstrated the power of the Internet to raise funds for candidates by collecting contributions via the Websites, Thats why I say dont be surprise next time the presidential c andidate debates are via chat rooms. Among the main internet users are the young adults maybe this is a reason why it has become so important since we are the leaders of tomorrow. The internet serves many functions to society some of them are that is serves as virtual community, information source, employment portal for jobseekers, research center, discussion forum, and entertainment center, among others. The internet brings together buyers and sellers and facilitates the flow of information, making it a key driver of trade. It also has some benefits like doing fast business gathering new ideas but the internet is not as great as it sounds it also has some limitations like the hackers or the privacy control problems we are facing right now I guess we will just have to wait and for the solutions. The last type of media we are going to analyze is the radio since its the oldest one with the most advantages. The most important advantage that radio offers is its ability to reach specific audiences through specialized programming. Radio can be adapted for different parts of the country and can reach people at different times of the day, For example radio is the ideal media for reaching people driving. When the radio first appeared it gave great potential for improving living conditions in the rural areas in Latin America. It is the most universal mass communication medium and is presently the cheapest type of media. Radio has also some effects in society the Excessive coverage of sensitive and violent news has led to communal riots at times in the case of Colombia the sindicatos when they found out about plan Colombia they formed a riot to stop the trade agreement of Colombia with the united states since they were going to be damaged by it. The constant repetition of news especial ly the violent ones can have major impacts especially on kids and make them repeat what they see for example if kids see a shooting they might be tempted to buy a gun and shoot their friends I know its a bit exaggerated but its just an illustration of how much power the media has on society as a whole.The media also plays a role in international political affairs as well, For example when Colombias government invaded Raul Reyes Camp people were all for it they were proud of the Colombian soldiers but when the internet and television stations started showing the other countries reactions a lot of people gave their back to the Colombian government saying they dint respected their neighbors and that they were disappointed on Colombia even though Colombia had already apologize to Ecuador. Radio and the other types of media also play an important role in war, in other words war is good for the media business because despite the excessive costs of sending correspondents for coverage, usin g expensive satellite equipment and airtime, war is precisely the type of event on which the media earns most of their money. A lot of the times the information is transformed and converted to be more dramatic that is why we should work with the media to help them focus in peace agreements and not so much in yellow news. In conclusion the Medias specific role in politics and society is informing us through persuasion always trying to influence us in our decisions. That is why media should have more clearly defined restrictions as to what they can write or cannot write. The media should be obligated to tell the truth and not manufacture or elaborate stories, even if it does not sound as good. Even though most of the television news stations are owned by wealthy individuals, they should not be so biased. The media and the politicians only want us to see what a perfect world we live in, so they tend to hide the truth or work their way around it. We can also conclude that the media has positive and negative things and that is good to read, listen or see the news but most importantly what I recommend is not to believe everything they tell us because they always come with a twist so just make your own decisions based on what you believe in and not letting yourself be influenced by anything. Through this es say we also saw the different types of media and their roles and how in the future the internet is going to be the most important type of media since it allows us to send information and receive information. Finally I recommend to the media to focus a little bit more in peace coverages than on violent news even though they sell better.