Law offer and Acceptance

1. What is an advertisement? Is it an offer or invitation to treat? Explain.

Advertisements are generally deemed invitations to treat. Advertisements are generally deemed invitations to treat. Advertisements are essential to businesses. The main purpose of advertising, among others, is to persuade people to buy a product, use a service or consider an idea. Seen from this perspective, it makes sense to say that an advertisement is an invitation to treat inviting the other, who is thus persuaded to make a proposal, to buy a product or use a service. The advertisement is in this sense a communication to the world at large of the availability of such product or service, the place where it can be found, contact details and the person from whom it may be obtained. There may also be some information regarding credentials of the product of service. Therefore it would not make much sense to say an advertisement makes a proposal, unless the characteristics in Carlill are satisfied.

1. Define offer and acceptance. Refer to Contracts Act 1950.

In contemporary English law defines an offer as an expression of willingness to contact made with the intention (actual or apparent) that it is become binding on the person making it as soon as it is accepted. The definition provides some guidance on what constitutes an offer. First there must be an expression. An expression of an offer may be oral, written, by conduct or a combination of the aforementioned. The reason an offer must be expressed In some form is because the law deems it important that the person accepting the offer has knowledge of the offer. Under the Malaysian Contracts Act 1950,section 2(a) provides the definition of what constitutes a proposal. Under section 2(a):

When one person signifies to another his willingness to do or to abstain from doing anything, with a view to obtaining the assent of that other to the act or abstinence, he is said to make a proposal.

Under the 1950 Act, the term used is “proposal” instead of “offer”. However, in the context of Malaysian common law on contacts, the term are used interchangeably. The reason is perhaps, like any other statutory provision, section 2 (a) requires some form of interpretation. The phrase “signify to another” in itself reflects that there is some form of communication. This is similar to the word “expression” in the English common law definition of offer. Therefore the phrase “signify to another can be interpreted to reflects the three major of expression i.e. oral, written and by conduct.

There are 2 types of offer which are unilateral offer and bilateral offer. Unilateral offer means that only a party making the offer communicates, one in which the offeree accepts the offer by performing an act which indicates their agreement with the bargain while bilateral offer means that there is an exchange of promises between two parties. A valid offer must contain the 3 conditions which are specific and comprehensive, communication, and intension to be bound once accepted. If the offeror cannot satisfy the 3 conditions together mean that the offer cannot be formed.Not only the offer contains the conditions, but also for an acceptance. An acceptance must also satisfy 3 conditions to form it, there are final and unqualified of the terms of an offer, mirror image rule, and communicated from the offeree to the offeror. In Amelia’s case, it is a bilateral offer because Amelia is the offeree that she give the invitation to the offeror whose are Billy, Charles, Donald, and Eddie to make an offer.