The Q&A series offer the best preparation for tackling exam questions. Each book includes typical questions, bullet-pointed answer plans and suggested answers, author commentary, and illustrative diagrams and flowcharts. This chapter presents sample exam questions about express and implied terms. Through a mixture of problem questions and essays, students are guided through some of the key issues on the topic of express and implied terms including the different sources of employment law, when terms of collective agreements may be incorporated into the contract of employment, the rules regarding custom and practice, and discussion of important implied terms such as the implied term of trust and confidence. Students are also introduced to the current key debates in the area and provided with suggestions for additional reading for those who want to take things further.
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Chapter
3. Express and implied terms
Chapter
5. Exemption Clauses and Unfair Terms
The Concentrate Questions and Answers series offers the best preparation for tackling exam questions. Each book includes typical questions, answer plans and suggested answers, author commentary, and other features. This chapter focuses on the regulation of exclusion/exemption clauses and other potentially unfair terms. It discusses both common law (such as approaches to incorporation and interpretation) and statutory regulation (such as the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 and the Consumer Rights Act 2015). It also explores two key debates: the nature of an exemption clause, and the tension between freedom of contract and judicial and statutory intervention in the context of exemption clauses.
Chapter
6. The Terms of the Contract
This chapter focuses on the terms of the contract. Such terms can be expressed in writing or in oral statements. In addition, some terms can be implied into a contract by legislation or the courts. As a result, contracts can be in the form of a written document, an oral agreement, or even a combination of written terms and oral statements and all three can contain implied terms. The chapter then looks at how terms can be implied into contracts. It also explores the law on express terms. In the context of what has been agreed, there are two main types of dispute. One type of dispute relates to the existence of a term that a party claims has been breached. The other type of dispute over what has been agreed relates to the meaning of the terms. In such cases, the meaning of the disputed term will determine whether it has been breached. That requires the courts to interpret the term to reflect the parties’ apparent intentions.
Chapter
7. Dissolution and Winding Up
This chapter details the various grounds for the dissolution of a solvent partnership, contractual, automatic and by court order, followed by the processes whereby either a full dissolution is effected by a winding up or on a technical dissolution a departing partner's share is ascertained The effects of the death or bankruptcy of a partner and the illegality of the partnership business are considered along with agreed dissolution grounds. The various grounds for a court order are then set out. The effects of the frustration, rescission or repudiation of the partnership agreement are detailed. Winding up by the partners or receivers is then set out including the application of the assets on a winding up. The valuation of a partner's share on leaving is considered followed by his or her share in the profits after the technical dissolution until payment. Finally, the distribution of assets on a final account, is set out.
Chapter
5. The Terms of the Contract
Jack Beatson, Andrew Burrows, and John Cartwright
This chapter discusses the nature and import of contractual terms and the form which they may take. First, it distinguishes the terms of a contract from representations, which are statements made by one party to the other that are not intended to be an integral part of the agreement. Similarly, collateral warranties, which are preliminary assurances that are contractually binding, but not as part of the principal agreement, are distinguished from representations which are not contractually binding. Second, the importance of different types of terms is examined by reference to the distinction between conditions, warranties, and innominate terms. Third, the implication of terms into contracts is explored. Finally, the chapter considers the interpretation or construction of terms.
Chapter
10. Implied Terms
This chapter discusses implied terms. Terms may be implied into contracts from three principal sources: statute, custom, and the courts. Parliament has, on a number of occasions, implied terms into contracts. The precise reason for the implication of the term depends upon the particular statute. It may be to give effect to the presumed intention of the parties; it may be to reduce uncertainty by enacting a default rule out of which the parties can contract if they do not like the term that Parliament has seen fit to imply; or it may be to protect one party to the transaction from the superior bargaining power of the other. Terms can also be implied into contracts by custom where the custom is certain, reasonable, and notorious. Customs and usages are an important source of obligations in commercial contracts. Terms implied by the courts can be divided into two groups, namely terms implied in fact and terms implied in law. A term is implied in fact when it is implied into the contract in order to give effect to what is deemed by the court to be the unexpressed intention of the parties and is implied because it is necessary to make the contract work. Terms implied in law ‘are those terms that are consistently implied into all contracts of a particular type because of the nature of the contract, rather than the supposed intentions of the parties’.
Chapter
4. Contract III: contractual terms and statutory protection
Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in a law exam, what examiners are looking for, and how to achieve extra marks. This chapter discusses contractual terms and statutory protection. Parties to a contract may express terms and/or terms may be implied. The sources and effects of implied terms are essential to the rights of the parties and obligations imposed on them. Terms can be implied through the courts, through customs, and from statute. Terms are identified as conditions, warranties, or innominate and this distinction is relevant when identifying remedies for breach. Statutes regulate the rights and obligations applicable to consumers and traders. These include the Sale of Goods Act 1979, the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977, and the substantial changes in contracts between consumers and traders introduced through the Consumer Rights Act 2015.
Chapter
6. The Implied Terms of the Personal Employment Contract
This chapter first discusses the role played by implied terms of the employment contract. It then turns to the implied terms which impose obligations on the employer. These include the duty to provide work, pay wages, exercise reasonable care for the physical and psychiatric well-being of the employee; the implied term of mutual trust and confidence; and the discretionary benefit implied term and anti-avoidance implied term. The final section covers the implied terms imposing duties on employees. These include the duty to work and obey instructions and orders; the duty to adapt, exercise care, and co-operate; the duty of mutual trust and confidence; and the duty of loyalty, fidelity, and confidence.
Chapter
7. The Variation and Suspension of the Personal Employment Contract
This chapter first examines the common law rules regulating the variation of the terms of the contract of employment. It focuses on the situation where the employer seeks to unilaterally modify the terms of the employment contract, for instance in light of modern pressures on management to demand greater labour flexibility in order to adapt to changing market conditions. The chapter then moves on to address the ability of the employer to suspend the contract of employment, for instance where the employer suffers a downturn in demand for its products or services, or where an employee may be subject to disciplinary proceedings. Finally, it considers the future trajectory of the common law content of the personal contract of employment.
Chapter
10. Implied Terms
This chapter discusses implied terms. Terms may be implied into contracts from three principal sources: statute, custom, and the courts. Parliament has, on a number of occasions, implied terms into contracts. The precise reason for the implication of the term depends upon the particular statute. It may be to give effect to the presumed intention of the parties; it may be to reduce uncertainty by enacting a default rule out of which the parties can contract if they do not like the term that Parliament has seen fit to imply; or it may be to protect one party to the transaction from the superior bargaining power of the other. Terms can also be implied into contracts by custom where the custom is certain, reasonable, and notorious. Customs and usages are an important source of obligations in commercial contracts. Terms implied by the courts can be divided into two groups, namely terms implied in fact and terms implied in law. A term is implied in fact when it is implied into the contract in order to give effect to what is deemed by the court to be the unexpressed intention of the parties and is implied because it is necessary to make the contract work. Terms implied in law ‘are those terms that are consistently implied into all contracts of a particular type because of the nature of the contract, rather than the supposed intentions of the parties’.
Chapter
13. Implication
This chapter examines whether a term should be imported into the contract, although it was never expressed in words; should the term be implied? A term can be implied into a particular contract because it is necessary to give effect to the parties’ intentions. This is known as ‘implication in fact’. Whether a term should be implied ‘in fact’ has traditionally depended upon whether the term was so obvious to both parties that it went without saying, or whether the term was necessary to give ‘business efficacy’ to the contract. A term might be implied ‘in law’ into all contracts of a particular type. Such terms might be implied as a result of statute or judicial decisions. Where a judge decides that a term should be implied ‘in law’, courts can take into account policy reasons when deciding whether an implied term is necessary for the type of contract at issue.
Chapter
10. Identifying and interpreting contractual terms
This chapter examines how the contract terms that bind the parties are identified and interpreted. It also considers the special problems arising from standard form contracts. We will see how words or conduct that generate expectations are classified into terms within the contract or mere representations outside the contract, with very different remedial consequences; how express terms can be augmented by implied terms and collateral terms; how terms that are often unread (eg in standard form contracts) are made enforceable by signature, reasonable notice, previous dealing, or custom; how terms are interpreted; and, in particular, how troublesome clauses that exclude or limit liability are interpreted.
Chapter
4. Terms of the Contract
The Concentrate Questions and Answers series offers the best preparation for tackling exam questions. Each book includes typical questions, answer plans and suggested answers, author commentary, and other features. This chapter explores the terms of the contract. It contains questions and answers concerning express and implied terms, how terms are to be identified, and how they are to be classified in order to determine what consequences flow from their breach. The chapter also considers two key debates: the basis on which the courts imply terms into contracts, and whether the courts approach the classification of terms highlights a tension in the law between certainty and justice.
Chapter
3. Contracts of employment (2): content and wages
Ian Smith, Owen Warnock, and Gemma Mitchell
This chapter explores where express terms come from, especially if they are not all neatly set out in writing, and then goes on to consider how terms become implied. Here, several significant differences between ordinary commercial contracts and employment contracts will be seen, both in the scale of the use of implied terms in employment law to ‘perfect’ the bargain and in the sheer strength of some of these frequently implied terms that can, in practice, be just as important as express terms. Having looked at where these terms come from, the chapter goes on to consider the principal duties that they impose on employers and employees, some of which are old and obvious, such as the employer’s duty to pay wages and the employee’s duty of obedience to lawful orders. On the other hand, some are more recent and more at the cutting edge of modern employment law, such as the implied term of trust and confidence for the employee and the topical controversies over confidentiality at work in an age of electronic communication and social media. The chapter concludes by considering specifically the law on wages, including the statutory requirements of paying the national minimum wage and the national living wage.
Chapter
5. Terms and breach of contract
Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in a law exam, what examiners are looking for, and how to achieve extra marks. This chapter discusses how to identify the contractual obligations assumed by the parties in their contract, distinguishing terms (promises) and representations (non-promissory inducements to contract), and identifying the express and implied terms. It also looks at standards of performance, how to identify broken promises as a prelude to considering the remedies for breach of contract, and whether it is possible to opt not to continue to perform further contractual obligations following the other party’s breach.
Chapter
5. Positive terms
Without assuming prior legal knowledge, books in the Directions series introduce and guide readers through key points of law and legal debate. Questions, diagrams and exercises help readers to engage fully with each subject and check their understanding as they progress. The terms of the contract give substance to the contractual parties’ obligations. They lay down what each party is expected to do in performance of his obligations, and so it is crucial in any dispute to first establish the terms of the contract before looking to see whether one party has failed to perform his obligations. This chapter focuses on the positive terms of the contract. The discussions cover terms and representations; collateral warranties; implied terms; and conditions, warranties and innominate terms and the significance of the remedies, including termination, attached to each.
Book
Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in a law exam, what examiners are looking for, and how to achieve extra marks. Commercial Law Concentrate is supported by extensive online resources to take your learning further. It has been written by experts and covers all the key topics so you can approach your exams with confidence. The clear, succinct coverage enables you to quickly grasp the fundamental principles of this area of law and helps you to succeed in exams. This guide has been rigorously reviewed and is endorsed by students and lecturers for level of coverage, accuracy, and exam advice. It is clear, concise, and easy to use, helping you to get the most out of your revision. After an introduction to contracts of the sale of goods, the book covers: statutory implied terms; passing of property and risk; retention of title clauses; exclusion and limitation clauses; non-existence and perishing of goods; transfer of ownership by a non-owner; delivery, acceptance, and payment; remedies of the unpaid seller; remedies of the buyer; consumer credit; the creation of agency and the agent’s authority; and the relationships created by agency—the rights and liabilities of the parties.
Chapter
2. Statutory implied terms
Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in a law exam, what examiners are looking for, and how to achieve extra marks. This chapter examines the significance of the terms implied into sale of goods contracts under the Sale of Goods Act 1979 and the statutory rights that are implied in a contract between trader and consumer by virtue of the Consumer Rights Act 2015. It explains the seller’s right to sell the goods, the goods being free from encumbrances and the buyer enjoying quiet possession of them, sales by sample, and the description and quality of the goods, as well as their fitness for purpose. Digital content is also discussed in relation to consumer transactions. The chapter also considers the terms implied into other kinds of contract by different statutes, including the terms implied by the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982.
Chapter
5. Exclusion and limitation clauses
Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in a law exam, what examiners are looking for, and how to achieve extra marks. This chapter, which focuses on clauses designed to exclude or limit a party’s liability, first considers exclusion or limitation clauses in the UK under common law rules, the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977, and the Consumer Rights Act 2015. It explains the distinction between an exclusion clause and a limitation clause before discussing the two main methods of controlling exclusion clauses adopted by the courts. The chapter examines the exclusion or restriction of the statutory implied terms under the Sale of Goods Act 1979, the Supply of Goods (Implied Terms) Act 1973, and the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982. Finally, it considers the rules introduced by the Consumer Rights Act 2015 in relation to consumer transactions.
Chapter
7. Terms of the contract I
Titles in the Core Text series take the reader straight to the heart of the subject, providing focused, concise, and reliable guides for students at all levels. This chapter examines issues related to the terms of the contract. It explains the distinction between terms and mere representations, and analyses the difference between signed and unsigned contracts in relation to the incorporation of express terms, including the L’Estrange v Graucob case. This chapter also considers the parol evidence rule and the modern contextual approaches to contractual interpretation. Finally, it considers implied terms, which can be implied by statute or by the courts, including the difference between implied terms in fact and at law, and introduces the developing concept of a relational contract.
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