OCR A2 Law - The Law of Contract - Terms of a Contract (1)

Intro/Definition: A term is any duties or obligations parties are expected to assume. 2 types of terms: Express; Implied.

• Express terms are terms that are clearly written or verbally stated before the contract is made.
• Implied terms aren't stated at the time of the contract but are important and are implied via Common Law (Judge), Custom and Statute.
• For an express term to be valid, it MUST BE INCORPORATED - the courts ascertain this through 5 methods...

1. Timing: The closer the time from the statement to thew making of the contract - the more likley it'll be a term.

CASE: "Bannerman v White". In this case a contract was made for the sale of hops and a statment regarding sulphur was made saying it hadn't been used but it was false and a contract was made the same day. HELD: The statement was incorporated as a term as the court accepted the statements regarding the sulphur amounted to a condition which was ... breached.

BUT... CASE: "Routledge v Mckay". In this case there was a sale of a motorbike, and a statement regarding the year of the bike had been made saying it was a 1941 model when it was actually a 1939 model and a week later the contract was made. HELD: This was a misrepresentation as the lapse of time was too wide to create a binding relationship.