CONTRACTS. Прочитайте текст, выучите слова и словосочетания и выполните задания.

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CONTRACTS

1. Прочитайте текст, выучите слова и словосочетания и выполните задания.

Output Enforced Offer

Offeror Offeree enforceable agreement

contractual dispute valid valid acceptance

incapacity void - voidable

gambling debt

All goods and services that we use in our everyday life are the output of work by millions of persons. The key or link among the people who produce and those who consume these marvels of the modern civilization is the contract.

A contract is an agreement which is enforced by law. This agreement normally results from an exchange of promises. For a contract to arise the party who makes an offer, the offeror, must make a definite offer, and the party to whom the offer is made, the offeree, must accept the offer exactly as presented with the exchange of legally sufficient consideration. Hence the equation learned by law students: offer + acceptance + consideration. Of course, the parties may negotiate additional details. If the offeree rejects the initial offer but proposes his own terms on the same subject matter, he makes a counteroffer. The counteroffer doesn’t serve to form a contract unless, of course, it’s accepted by the original offeror.

For a promise to become an enforceable contract, the parties must also agree on the essential (material) terms of the contract, such as price and subject matter. Nevertheless, courts will enforce a vague or indefinite contract under certain circumstances, such as when the conduct of the parties, as opposed to the written instrument, manifests sufficient certainty as to the terms of the agreement.

An enforceable agreement may be manifested in either written or oral words (an express contract) or by conduct and words (an implied contract). There are exceptions to this general rule. For example, the Statute of Frauds requires that all contracts involving the sale of real property, contracts of guarantee, contracts for transfer of shares and some other be in writing.

In a contractual dispute, certain defences to the formation of a contract may permit a party to escape his/her obligations under the contract. For example, illegality of the subject matter, fraud in the inducement, duress and the lack of legal capacity to contract all enable a party to attack the validity of a contract.

In some cases individuals/companies who are not a party to a particular contract may nevertheless have enforceable rights under the contract. For example, contracts made for the benefit of a third party (third party beneficiary contracts) may be enforceable by the third party. An original party to a contract may also subsequently transfer his rights/duties under the contract to a third party by way of an assignment of rights or delegation of duties. This third party is called the assignee in an assignment of rights and the delegate in a delegation of duties.

A valid acceptance of a valid offer results in a valid contract, which is legally effective and enforceable in court. But sometimes a contract may be defective and may consequently be void or voidable or unenforceable. A contract is void – that is, no contract exists – if one, or both, of the parties is not recognised in law as having legal capacity to contract, for example minors or persons with certified mental incapacity. A contract is voidable, that is, it may be avoided, by one of the parties if there is some defect in its formation. Some contracts may be neither void nor voidable but cannot be enforced in a court of law, for example payment of a gambling debt. Lapse of time may also render a contract unenforceable, as the time limit for filing suit to enforce it has expired, or because the defendant has gone bankrupt and a judgement against the person cannot be collected.

2.Найдите в тексте синонимы слов и словосочетаний:

1. something, typically money, that is owed or due _____________________

2. a declaration or assurance that one will do a particular thing or that guarantees that a particular thing will happen_____________________________

3. have the same opinion about something; concur ____________________

4. a tribunal presided over by a judge, judges, or a magistrate in civil and criminal cases____________________________

5. (of a person or organization) declared in law unable to pay outstanding debts_____________________

3.Дайте письменный ответ на вопросы:

1. What is the contract?

________________________________________________

2. What are the conditions of making a contract?

______________________________________________

3. Who is called the assignee?

______________________________________________

4. Who is called the offeree?

______________________________________________

5. When is a contract voidable?

______________________________________________

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