Acceptance may be defined as an; Unconditional agreement Communicated by the offeree to the offeror To all terms of the offer Made with the intention of accepting. A contract will Not be binding unless the parties have expressed themselves with reasonable certainty.

Features of Acceptance Acceptance Must Be Unconditional – Offeree must accept the exact terms proposed by the offoror unconditionally. Introduction of new terms to the initial offer will end the original offer. Such new terms will give rise to a “counter-offer”. Counter-offers then operate as a new offer.

Acceptance Must Be Communicated – General Rule – Acceptance will NOT be effective unless communicated to the offeror by the offeree or his authorized agent. An uncommunicated mental assent will not suffice. The Leonidas Case Golf L.J stated that – it is axiomatic that acceptance of an offer cannot be inferred from silence. Therefore, communication of acceptance must be actually received by the offeror.

SILENCE Does silence on the part of the offeree mount to an acceptance…? The offeror cannot impose a contract on the offeree against his wishes. Accordingly, silence on the part of the offeree should not be considered as an acceptance. Thus, offeror cannot impose such conditions on the offeree.

Method of Acceptance How can you communicate your acceptance…? IMPORTANT If the offeror prescribed; A particular method of communicating Makes it clear that no other method will suffice then there may be NO contract if different methods are used to communicate the acceptance. Eg – Eliason V. Henshaw

Acceptance by Post At what point you consider the acceptance has been communicated to the offeror…? Postal Rule If acceptance by post is requested or it is the reasonable mean of communication, then the acceptance is complete; Immediately when the letter is posted.

TERMINATION OF OFFER There are a number of ways for an offer to be terminated. …LIKE….???? They are events that may occur after an offer has been made. Such events bring the offer to an end so that it can no longer be accepted. An offer can be terminated; Revocation Rejection Laps Death

REVOCATION - Revocation means an offer is withdrawn by the offeror. The general rule was established in Payne V. Cave Held - that an offer can be revoked at any time before acceptance takes place. The revocation must be communicated effectively directly or indirectly to the offeree before acceptance. Important – communication should actually reach the offeree. Sufficient communication does not need to be made by the offeror personally, it is sufficient if revocation id communicated by a reliable third party. Eg - Dickinson V. Dodds

REJECTION - An offer is terminated when the offeree communicates his rejection to the offeror. Offeree making a counter-offer also amounts to a rejection of the original offer. In Hyde V. Wrench Lord Langdale held that the counter offer offered by the offeree terminated the original offer. Hence,…thereby rejected the offer previously made by the offeror.

LAPSE OF TIME - Can you accept an offer after laps of 5 years….? Ramsgate Victoria Hotel V. Montefiore Held - an offer will lapse if it is open for a specific length of time and that time limit expires. Where there is no express time limit, an offer is normally open only for a reasonable time. The length for a reasonable time will depend on the circumstances of the case. Also the definition of a reasonable time depends upon the demand for the subject matters and upon the instability of its price.

Intention To Be Legally Bound There is a legally binding contract ONLY if both parties intend to create legal relations. Courts have identified; Some agreements are legally bound by its very nature. Some parties directly or indirectly express they do not intent to be contractually bound. However, intention to be bound is the crucial element. The courts assess the parties’ intentions objectively.

Domestic Agreements – Where a husband and wife who are living together as one, any household agreement made between them. Courts will assume that they DO NOT intend to be legally bound, unless there is evidence to the contrary. Balfour v Balfour Husband left her wife in England and wend abroad. Question – whether there is a contract regarding monthly allowence Held – There is a contract as spouses were not living together in harmony at the time of the contract.

Social Agreements – There CAN NOT be any binding intentions to form contractual liabilities in social agreements. Eg – To offer a friend a meal does not constitute legal liabilities. Coward V. Motor Insurance Bureay Arrangement to share petrol to work does not constitute an intention to be legally binding.