4. ESSENTIALS
1. OFFER AND
ACCEPTANCE
3. LAWFUL
CONSIDERATION
2. INTENTION TO
CREATE LEGAL
RELATIONSHIP
4. CAPACITY TO
CONTRACT
5. FREE CONSENT
8. LEGAL FORMALITIES
7. POSSIBILTY OF
PERFORMANCE
9. CERTAINITY
6. LAWFUL OBJECT
5. OFFER AND ACCEPTANCE
At least two parties are needed to enter into a
contract. One party has to make an offer and
other must accept it.
The person who makes the 'proposal' or 'offer'
is called the 'promisor' or 'offeror'. While, the
person to whom the offer is made is called the
'offeree’ or ‘promisee’. There must be an
'offer' and an 'acceptance' to the offer,
resulting into an agreement.
6. INTENTION TO CREATE LEGAL
RELATIONSHIP
When two parties enter into an agreement,
their intention must be to create a legal
relationship between them.
Agreements of social or domestic nature do
not contemplate legal relationship.
7. LAWFUL CONSIDERATION
An agreement to be enforceable by law must
be supported by consideration.
It is a general rule:
“NO CONSIDERATION, NO CONTRACT.”
8. CAPACITY TO CONTRACT
In a contract, both the parties (i.e. offerer and
acceptor) must be capable of entering into
contract.
Law prohibits:
Minors
Persons of unsound mind
Person who are otherwise disqualified like an alien
enemy, insolvents, convicts, etc from entering into
any contract.
9. FREE CONSENT
'Consent' means the parties must have agreed
upon the same thing in the same sense (Section
13).
Consent is said to be free when it is not caused
by:
Coercion (Sec. 15)
Undue Influence (Sec. 16)
Misrepresentation (Sec. 17)
Fraud (Sec. 18)
Mistake (Sec. 20,21,22)
10. LAWFUL OBJECT
The object of the contract must be lawful.
It must not be illegal, fraudulent, immoral, or
opposed to public policy.
If an agreement suffers from any legal flaw, it
would not be enforceable by law.
11. POSSIBILITY OF PERFORMANCE
The agreement must be to do the act whose
performance is possible.
The agreement to do an act whose
performance is impossible is not enforceable
by law.
12. LEGAL FORMALITIES
Generally, a contract may be oral or in
writing.
However, certain contracts are required to be
in writing and may even require registration.
Therefore, where law requires an agreement
to be put in writing or be registered, the
same must be complied with.
13. CERTAINITY
The terms of a contract must not be vague or
uncertain.
If an agreement is vague and its meaning
cannot be ascertained, it cannot be enforced.