Law of Obligation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Law of Obligation - Essay Example if the offer is accepted but if the other party alters the term of his acceptance, it becomes a counter-offer and has the effect of effacing the original offer. The second party then becomes the offeror and the first party the acceptor. If the counter-offer is accepted, then the agreement is concluded. 2 The principle in English law is that â€Å"an acceptance which is not the mirror image of an offer does not give rise to a contract – it is regarded as a counter-offer, not an acceptance† 3 This principle was first enunciated and laid down by the courts in the case of Hyde v. Wench.4 In the aforesaid case, a party offered to sell a piece of land he owns for  £1,200 to another but was declined by the latter. He made another offer, lowering it to  £1,000 to which the other party responded by offering to pay the same for  £950. The first party asked for time to reconsider and several days after wrote a letter to the first party declaring that he would make a definite answer on a fixed future. A day after the fixed date, the first party refused, in a letter, the offer of the second party. The second party wrote back stating that he is accepting the earlier offer in which the selling price is at  £1000. The Court, after appraisal of the facts of the case said that the effect of a counter-proposal is an implied rejection of the offer to which it is responding to: Applying the above principle to the case at hand, the first advertisement becomes the first offer but since Justine wanted to lower the price at  £2,250 from the original price of  £3,000, then the original offer was vacated and the new offer is the one proffered by Justine. There was no acceptance by Charles but yet another offer at the price of  £2,500 to which Justine did not immediately accept. When Justine finally accepted, it was several days after through a telephone message. This did not however reach Charles because the message was inadvertently erased by his nephew who was playing around with the