Lecture Note
8 lessons from the book "Emotional Equations"
by Chip Conley:
1. "Joy = Love - Fear" - This equation suggests that joy is the result of feeling loved without fear. When we feel loved and secure, we are able to experience joy.
2. "Despair = Suffering - Meaning" - This equation suggests that despair arises when we are suffering but cannot find any meaning in our suffering. Finding purpose and meaning can help us move out of despair.
3. "Anxiety = Uncertainty x Powerlessness" - This equation suggests that anxiety arises when we feel uncertain about a situation and powerless to control it. Recognizing and addressing our feelings of powerlessness can help reduce anxiety.
4. "Disappointment = Expectations - Reality" - This equation suggests that disappointment arises when our expectations do not match up with reality. Adjusting our expectations or finding ways to change our reality can help reduce disappointment.
5. "Envy = Despair + Resignation" - This equation suggests that envy arises when we feel both despair and resignation about our own situation, while simultaneously coveting what others have. Practicing gratitude and finding ways to improve our own situation can help reduce envy.
6. "Authenticity = Self-Awareness x Courage" - This equation suggests that authenticity arises when we are both self-aware and courageous enough to express our true selves. Developing self-awareness and cultivating courage can help us live more authentically.
7. "Happiness = Wanting What You Have / Having What You Want" - This equation suggests that happiness arises when we either want what we already have or have what we want. Cultivating gratitude and finding ways to attain our desires can help increase happiness.
8. "Hope = Belief / Doubt" - This equation suggests that hope arises when our belief in a positive outcome outweighs our doubt. Focusing on positive outcomes and cultivating a hopeful mindset can help increase hope.
Thanks for reading
Keep followingđMartha Kay
2. Law of contract
What is contract?
âA contract is an agreement between two or
more persons as between themselves create,
vary or extinguish an obligation of a
proprietary nature.â
4. Formation of contarct
⢠Essential requirements for valid contract
ďź Consent
ďź Capacity refers to the ability to perform juridical acts
ďźObject that the subject matter of the contract should
be clearly defined, possible to perform, legal and moral,
ďźForm. If the law require or if the parties agree to that
effect
5. consent
⢠Consent is expressed by an offer and
acceptance.
1. Offer
ďź is a proposal to enter in to a legally binding
obligation.
ďź It has to be definite and certain
ďź communicated to the specific individual offeree
ďź Offer vs mere declaration of intention and
invitations to anyone to make an offer
6. consent
⢠Acceptance
ďź It refers to agreement to the terms of the offer
ďźAcceptance vs defective acceptance or counter
offer
ďźAn offer and an acceptance may be made orally, in
writing, by sign or even by conduct.
ďź. In principle, silence doesnât amount to
acceptance.
7. ⢠Exceptions
1. If there is a duty by the side of the offeree to
accept the offer or
2. If there is a pre-existing business relationship
between the contracting parties,
3. If there is general terms of business silence
may be taken as an acceptance.
8. Contract b/n absent persons
1. The theory of dispatch: this theory insists
that the contract is deemed to be concluded
when the offeree sends (dispatched) the
letter of acceptance to the offeror.
2. 2. The theory of reception: the contract is
deemed to be completed when the letter of
reply (acceptance) has reached (received by)
the offeror
9. Defects of concent
A. Mistake
ďź It must be fundamental and decisive
ďź A mistake is said to be decisive when it is proved that the mistaken party would not have
entered in to the contract had he/she known that he/she was mistaken.
ďź A mistake is said to fundamental when it is related within the scope of the contract i.e. the
legal nature of the contract, or the individual identity of one of the parties or the identity of
the object of the contract.
ďź The parties to the contract are in good faith
ďź Mistakes related to motives and arithmetical errors are not mistakes inthis sense
B. fraud,
ďź is just a deceitful practice, or it is an act of deceiving. In other words, one of the parties is
cheating.
C. duress.
ďź refers to an act of compelling or forcing some one physically or mentally to enter in to a
contract
ďź It should be serious, imminent and impress a reasonable person,
10. Defects of concent
D.false Statement
ďźif it is made in bad faith or due to negligence and
the relation arises from special confidence and
loyalty existed between the contracting parties.
E. Unconscionable contract (Lesion)
ďźThese kinds of contracts are contracts contrary to
conscious.
ďźone of the parties took an excessive advantage
from the want, simplicity of mind, senility or
business inexperience of the other party
11. Defects of concent
F. Reverential fear
ďźthat arises from respect of a person who inspiring
the fear and such person derived an excessive
advantage from the contract may be the ground of
invalidation the contract.
12. Capacity
ďź it refers to the ability to perform juridical acts
ďźmental ablity to understand the nature and
consequence of her/his act.
ďźCapacity presumed.
ďźReasons for incapability are age, mental
illness or court decision
13. minors
ďźPersons under the age of 18
ďźContracts concluded by minors in excess of their
power shall be of no effect and can be subject of
invalidation by the request of the minor or
his/her legal representatives, i.e. guardian or
tutor
ďźThe law tries to protect the immature and
inexperience minors from the complicated
transactions and shroud adults
ďźHow ever, the minor can enter in to a contract
that may be termed as âacts of every day lifeâ.
14. Period of minority
ďźIn principle, minority ends when the minor
attains the age of majority (attains the age of 18)
or if he/she is emancipated
ďźLegal emancipation⌠if the minor is allowed by
the ministry of justice to get married due to a
good cause before the age of 18
ďźJudicial emancipationâŚif the court found out that
the child (minor) is smart enough to handle and
manage his/her business affairs, the court may
give an order of emancipation
15. Insanity
ďźAn insane person is someone who canât
understand the importance of his/her action due
to mental illness or mental abnormality,
insufficient body development, senility
⢠Notorious insane persons and
⢠Non-notorious insane persons.
ďźIf the individual is a notorious insane person,
he/she can invalidate the contract after he/she
gets his/her mental health or in the alternative,
the tutor or guardian or his/her heirs may
request the invalidation of the contract.
16. Insanity
ďźIf the person is a non-notorious one, he/she
canât invoke invalidation of a contract unless
he/she proves that his/her consent was not
free and true due the mental illness at the
time when the contract was
formed/concluded
17. Interdiction
ďźInterdiction is an act of prohibition or
withdrawal of a personâs capacity from
performing juridical acts by a court decision
ďźJudicial interdiction
ďis the judgment made by a court where the health
and the interest of an insane person so requires
ďźLegal interdiction
ďare criminally convicted and imprisoned
individuals.
18. object
ďźObject of a contract is the subject matter of
the contract or the obligation to be
performed.
ďźThe contracting parties are free to determine
the content of the Contract/freedom of
contract/ art. 1711
ďźThey can set aside permissive provisions of
the law but should observe the mandatory
one.
19. object
ďźThe object should be
ďźsufficiently defined, art.1714
ďźpossible to perform, art. 1715
ďźlegal and moral. Art.1716
20. form
ďźPrinciple of Freedom of form.. parties may opt to
make a special form
ďźIt has to exceptions
ďźIf the parties agree orally that they will make their
contract in the future in writing, they should observe
this pre-contractual agreement
ďźIf the law clearly put that certain contracts should be
made in writing, this legal stipulation must be strictly
followed, and according to arts. 1,723-1,725 and art.
2472(1) of the civil code, certain types of contracts are
required to be made in writing
21. form
⢠a. Contract relating to immovable properties,
⢠b. Administrative contracts
⢠c. Contract of guarantee,
⢠d. Contract of insurance, and
⢠e. Contract of loan where the amount of
money lent exceeds 500 Eth. Birr.
⢠f. Variation of preexisting contract
22. Effect of non fulfilment
⢠the effect of the non-fulfillment of these
requirements is invalidation of the contract
that the transaction will be declared null and
void
23. Effect of contract
ďźâThe provision of the contract legally formed
shall be binding on the parties as though they
were lawâ. Art.1731
ďźThere is a Latin phrase âPact Sunt Servandaâ it
is equivalent to âManâs word is his bondâ or
Amharic translation âá°á á áá ááłá°áŤáâ.
24. Invalidation and cancellation
ďźsimilarities
ďźthey are both extinction of contracts/effect/
ďźDifference
ďźCause
ďźinvalidate the contract is the non-fulfillment of
one or all of the essential legal requirements of a
valid contract
ďźBut cancellation of contracts comes when one of
the parties especially the debtor failed to perform
(to carry out) his/her side of the obligation
25. Invalidation and cancellation
ďźTherefore, invalidation is caused due to the lack
of legal validity of the contract where as
cancellation results from the non-performance of
the obligation
ďźInvalidation of contracts may only be demanded
by the incapable party or by the party whose
consent is vitiated
ďźbut if the cause of the invalidation is other than
defective consent and incapacity, either parties or
even other third parties may require the
invalidation of the contract
26. Period of limitation
ďźaction for the invalidation of the contract
should be presented to the court within two
years from the ground for invalidation having
disappeared/ capacity and concent/
28. Who shall perform a contract?
ďźPersonal performance is not rule/mandatory
ďźHowever, there are a couple of conditions
where the debtor may be required to perform
the obligation personally if the creditor shows
that the nature of the obligation needs
personal performance of the debtor
him/herself and personal performance of the
debtor is expressly agreed.
30. - Who should receive performance?
⢠Again as a principle, the creditor or any other
person authorized by the creditor may receive
performance of contractual obligation
⢠Whenever the debtor is in difficult situation to
identify who is the proper creditor, the law
advised him to pay to no one, but he will be
relieved from his obligation by depositing the
amount due with the court
31. - What should be performed?
⢠the performance of the contract by the debtor
should be in conformity with what was exactly
and clearly promised.
⢠If the performance is not in conformity with
what was exactly promised, the law entitles
the creditor to refuse performance, or to
suspend his/her side of obligation or to
exercise any other legal remedies of non-
performance
32. ⢠The creditor may also refuse part payment,
however receiving part do not tantamount the
creditor lose the unpaid part. There is a say
âBetter half than nothingâ.
⢠When fungible things, things that have common
generic name but different species such as teff,
coffee etc, ordered the debtor has the right to
choose the thing to be delivered however the
creditor has the right to refuse to receive below
average quality
33. ⢠if debt is money debt, it should be paid in
local currency unless the contract contains the
word like âactual valueâ.
⢠What interesting concept included in the
future payment of the debtor to protect the
interest of either the creditor or debtor is the
payment relies on the future price of the
goods or services at the time of payment.
34. - Time and place of performance
⢠The parties are free to agree as to where and
when performance should be made
⢠If there is no such stipulation or provision in
their contract as to the place of the
performance, the place where the debtor had
his/her normal residence at the time of the
conclusion of the contract will also be the
place of performance of the obligation
35. ⢠the place of the formation of the contract will
also be the place of performance.
⢠But if the object of the contract is some thing
like immovable thing or property, the place of
the performance of the obligation will be the
place where that particular immovable
property is located or found, or a particular
thing is produced or manufactured
36. ⢠As to the time of the performance of the
contract, if there is no clear contractual
provision in their agreement as to the time of
the performance of the obligation, the
creditor may require the debtor to perform
the obligation at any time provided
⢠In simultaneous performance, the creditor
fulfills his/her side of obligation can demand
the other party performance forthwith
37. ⢠However, the creditor should give a
reasonable time for the debtor to perform the
obligation as to the nature of the contract
such as in credit sale the seller should give
time of payment to the buyer.
38. The concept of anticipatory breach
⢠Anticipatory breach simply refers to as an act
of suspending the performance of the
obligation of one of the parties when the
other party shows that he/she will not
perform or carry out his/her side of obligation.
39. The concept of transfer of risk
⢠answer the question as to who should bear
the risk to a loss by an unpreventable due to
the destruction or deterioration of the object
of the contract
⢠The risk is with the person who is in actual
control of the thing or the object.
⢠until delivery, the deliverer will bear the risk
and after delivery, the other party will be the
risk bearer
40. ⢠But what if the person who is expected to take
delivery failed to do so, at this situation, the
risk will be transferred to the one who failed
to take the delivery of the object.
41. Non-performance of a contract
⢠a failure on the side of the debtor to carry out
his/her contractual obligation.
⢠In principle, the creditor should give a default
notice to the debtor in order to remind the
debtor to carry out his/her obligation in due
time.
42. ⢠the creditor need not give a default notice if;
⢠The obligation is an obligation of abstinence (
obligation not to do type), OR
⢠The debtor has already declared in writing that he/she
will not perform his/her obligation, ( Anticipatory
breach) OR
⢠There is a stipulation in their contract which says that if
the time has lapsed, there is no need of giving a default
notice, OR
⢠The obligation that the debtor assumed may only be
performed within a fixed period of time and if that
particular time has already lapsed.
43. Remedies for non-performance
⢠specific (forced) performance with
compensation for damage
⢠cancellation of the contract as a whole with
compensation for damage.
⢠The creditor may require the debtor to
perform the contractual obligation if;
1. The creditor has a special interest from the
personal performance of the obligation by the
debtor,
44. 2. If the performance of the obligation doesnât
violate the personal liberty of the debtor.
ďźIn general, due to the non-fulfillment of the
above mentioned requirements or for any
other reason, specific performance is not
possible, the creditor may apply to the court
for cancellation of the contract or some times
even the individual creditor may be allowed to
cancel the contract individually.
45. types of cancellation
⢠Judicial cancellation, which is the rule that the
court may give an order of cancellation of the
contract only where there is a fundamental
breach. There will be a fundamental breach
when the non-performance affects the very
basis of the contract and the non-
performance is total and irreversible.
46. ⢠Unilateral cancellation is the other type of
cancellation which gives the right to one of the
parties to cancel the contract unilaterally. Unilateral
cancellation will be allowed if one of the following
conditions is fulfilled. These are;
⢠if there is a cancellation clause in their
contract,
⢠When the period of grace or the reasonable
time has already lapsed
47. ⢠If the performance of the contract, due to
some reasons, becomes impossible
⢠If the other party has already declared in
writing that he/she will not perform his/her
obligation
48. Compensation for damage
⢠The creditor (the plaintiff) will be awarded
compensation for damage if two requirements
are fulfilled. These are
1. If it is well proved that the creditor (plaintiff)
suffered a damage
2. It must be also proved that the creditor
suffered the damage (incurred the loss) due
to the defendantâs (debtorâs) non-
performance of his/her obligation
49. ⢠The defendant (the debtor), on the other hand,
may be relieved from paying compensation for
the damage if he/she proved that the reason for
the non-performance of the obligation is due to
force majeure
⢠A force majeure is an event which is
unforeseeable and insurmountable (something
which is beyond our control and unavoidable).
50. â Unexpected government prohibition, or
â The existence of natural catastrophe such as flood,
lightening, earth quake, etcâŚor
â international or civil war, or
â The death or unexpected grave accident or illness
of the debtor.
51. Extinction of contractual obligations
1. Performance
2. Invalidation and cancellation
3. Termination and Remission of debts
4. Novation
5. Set-off
6. merger