英国合同法复习资料 Lecture1Offer and aeptance IWhat is an offer?Key principles:An offer is astatement whichobjectively indicatesthat the offeror isprepared tocontract onspecified terms.Harvey vFacey1893A.C.552p7.Fact:P:Will yousell usBumper HallPen?Telegraph lowestcash priceD:Lowest price900poundsP:We agreeto buyfor thesum of900pounds askedby youD refused to sell.Held:D is not bound.Ps firsttelegram askedtwo questionsand Danswered onlythe second.D hadmade nopromise,express orimplied to sell.A statementof theminimum priceat whicha partymay bewilling to sell willnot amount to an offer.Gibson vManchester CityCouncil19791WLR294p7.Fact:Council hada policyof sellingcouncil housesto tenant.The councilmay beprepared to sell the house toyouand invitedGibson tofill in a form.Gibson filledin butcouncil refusedto sell.Held:No contract.The wordsmay beprepared to sellare fatalto this.The Councildid notmake an offer butonly invitedoffers and the tenantmade afirm offer which wasrejected by the Council.The tenants applicationwas an offer ratherthan an aeptance.Recognized instancesof invitationsto treatAdvertisements Key principles:Advertisements arenormally invitationsto treatbecause it is clear that the advertiser does not intendto bebound.Partridge vCrittenden19681W.L.R.1204Fact:Concerns anewspaper advertisementthat certainwild birdsare availablefor salefor25s each.No detailsas toquantity.Held:The addid not amount to an offer to sell.Exception:if the advertisement is unilateral Carlill v Carbolic Smoke BallCo.18931QB256p35.Fact:In anewspaper ad,D stated that it would pay?100to any person whobecame illwith fluafter usingthe smoke ball asdirected andthat to show itssincerity ithad deposited?1000in abank aount.P usedthe smokeball,but neverthelesscaught flu.Held:the adwas an offer to the worldwhich was aepted by P whenshe usedthe smokeball asdirected.She wasentitled to the?100.Shop displaysKey principles:the display of goodsfor saleon asupermarket shelfis an invitation totreat,and the other to buy is made by the customerpresenting the goods to the cashier.Fisher vBell19611QB394Facts:where the defendant wascharged with the offenceof offeringfor a sale aflick knife.Held:As a general rule,displayofflick knifein ashop windowis an invitation totreat andnot an offer.Pharmaceutical Societyof GreatBritain vBoots CashChemists19531QB401p17.Facts:the Ddisplayed medicineson theirshelves whichunder statutemust be sold under the supervisionof aregistered pharmacist.In thisshop,the pharmacistcould refuseto allowthe purchaseat thecash desk.Held:Putting upgoods on the shelvesof aself-service shopwas an invitation totreat.There was no saleuntil theshopkeeper aepted the customers offer to buy.The mainpractical1consequence of this areunder thelaw of contract,shops arenot bound to sellgoods at the priceindicated anda customercannot demand to buya particularitem ondisplay.Tenders Key principles:a circularinviting the submission oftenders isnormally aninvitation totreat and thesubmission of the tender is the offer.Spencer vHarding (1870)LR5CP561p9.Facts:The defendantshave acircular wherebyto offerfor salesome stocksby tenderandto be soldat adiscount inone lot.The plaintiffargued that the defendanthas to sell to the highesttender.Held:For the defendant.An offerfor salein thetender isjust aninvitation totreat.There is nothing tosuggest that the defendantwill aept the highestbid.City Polytechnicof HongKong vBlue Cross(Asia Pacific)Insurance Ltd19952HKLR103Facts:City Polytechnic,through aninsurance broker,invited tendersfrom severalinsurance paniesto coverits employeesmedical andlife insurance.Held:It wasconfirmed that aninvitation to tenderisnomore thanan intention to receivebids.Situations where there is a contractualobligation to aept themost petitivebid Key principles:aninvitation to submittenders may amount to an offerwhere it is clearthat the seller intendstosell to the highest bidder.(The invitationto tendermayamountto an offer of the unilateraltype if that isthat wasintended)Harvela Investmentsv RoyalTrust ofCanada1986AC207p13.Facts:D1invited Pand D2to makesealed petitivebids for a parcelof shares,statingwe bindourselves to aept(the highest)offer.P bid$2175000and D2bid$2100000or$101000in excessof anyother offer.D1believed that they werebound to aeptthebid ofD2,as beingthe highestbid.Held:the invitationto tenderamounted to an offertosellto thehighest bidder,however,thereferentialbid of the typeadopted byD2was notpermissible ina transactionof thiskind and therefore D1was boundtoaeptthe Ps bid.(the thirdpartys bidwas areferential bidand was nota valid offer.)An obligation to considertenders Key principles:aninvitationto submittenders is an offerto openand considerall confirmingtenders together.Blackpool andFylde AeroClub vBlackpool BoroughCouncil19901WLR1195p11.Facts:D invitedtenders for a concessionto operatepleasure flightsfrom thelocal airport.The letterstated thatNo tenderwhich isreceived afterthe lastd