Faculty of Built Environment

ATGB1313 Introduction to Law

GROUP ASSIGNMENT

Tutor In-Charge : NURZAIMAH BINTI ZAINOL ABIDEEN

Tutorial Group : 5

NO. NAME ID NO. MARKS

1. VINCENT PHANG ZI XUAN 20PVD03956

2. CHONG YIT SHANG 20PVD01630

3. POR CHIN CHING 20PVD01525

4. DION MOI WEI HAN 20PVD02445

5. TAN YING YEE 20PVD11284

 RUBRIC ASSSESSMENT FOR REPORT
Marks t 0 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8 9-10
o Very Poor Poor Average Good Excellent
be allo
tted
Descrip ▪ Not done ▪ No proper ▪ Minimal e ▪ Relevant ▪ Good and ▪ Provide a
tions at all introduct ffort on introduct relevant n excelle
ion, cont introduct ion, cont introduct nt introd
ent & con ion, cont ent & con ion, cont uction, c
clusion ent & con clusion ent & con ontent &
▪ Not able clusion ▪ Able to e clusion conclusio
to expres ▪ Not able xpress id ▪ Able to e n
s ideas c to expres eas clear xpress id ▪ Able to e
learly an s ideas c ly and pr eas clear xpress id
d precise learly an ecisely ly and pr eas clear
ly d precise ▪ Contents ecisely ly and pr
▪ Contents ly are syste ▪ Contents ecisely
are not s ▪ Contents matically are syste ▪ Contents
ystematic are not s presented matically are very
ally pres ystematic presented systemati
ented ally pres cally pre
ented sented

MARKING SCHEME FOR REPORT

Total M
Weight Allocated
arks Maximum
Content CLO PLO age Marks
(A) x Marks
(A) (B)
(B)
Scope (Range covered) 3 3 1 10

Comprehension (Understanding) 3 3 1 10

Relevant discussion (Analysis) 3 3 1 10

Group dynamics (Teamwork) 3 3 0.5 5

Compliance to required format & language 3 3 0.5 5

skills

TOTAL MARKS 40

GROUP ASSIGNMENT BRIEF

Course Code & Title : ATGB1313 Introduction to Law

 Lecturer : Ms. Nurzaimah Zainol

Tutor : Ms. Nurzaimah Zainol

Programme : DQS1S1G1, DBD1S1G1

Academic Year : 2020/2021

Assessment : Group Assignment

Marks : 40% of 100% Total Coursework Marks
Learning Outcomes : CLO 3 / PLO 3
Date of Submission : Week 10, Friday, 21 August 2020 before 5pm.

Date of Feedback : Week 12 onwards

IMPORTANT NOTES AND GUIDELINES

Objectives
The objective of this assignment is to enable students to demonstrate their ap
preciation and understanding on contract law under the Contracts Act 1950 (as
amended) and case law.

Learning Outcome
At the end of the assignment:
1. Students should be able to comprehend and explain the sources and principle
s of contract law.
2. Students should be able to learn the correct report writing format and skil
ls.

Requirements
You are required to present a written assignment on the following topic:

Tony had four pet rabbits which had been trained to perform together as a grou
p in a circus tour. They escaped from their cage. Tony placed an advertisement
in the local newspaper and on the internet, describing the rabbits and attachi
ng pictures of them. Tony promised to pay RM5,000 for each rabbit to anyone wh
o can return the rabbits to him.
Carol, Tony’s neighbour, found one of the rabbits. She kept it warm and well
fed in a cage overnight. She then took it to Tony’s house the next day, but b
efore she can reach Tony’s house, the rabbit escaped from the cage, ran away
from her, and made its way back into Tony’s house through a pet flap hole in
Tony’s house door.

Bruce, who was desperate for extra cash, searched for the rabbits for three da
ys. He spent RM200 on Grab fares, travelling to various parts of the vicinity.
When he found one of the rabbits, he took it home with him and did not immedia
tely return it.

Steve found another rabbit. Unfortunately, it had been savaged by a dog and wa
s dead. Steve took the dead rabbit to Tony, however Tony refused to pay him an
ything.

Pepper, Tony’s wife, found another rabbit in their daughter’s room of the sa
me house. She never liked any of the rabbits but she was aware of her husband’
s interest. She gave the rabbit to Tony and claimed the money, but Tony refuse
d to pay her anything. Tony said Pepper must not benefit from this incident as
she was his wife. She was responsible too as the rabbits were missing while To
ny and Pepper were at home.

Later, Tony decided that, as one of the rabbits was dead, there was no point i
n reassembling them as a performance group. Accordingly, he placed leaflets ab
out the city cancelling the promise of a reward to anyone who found them. Bruc
e did not see the leaflets and returned the rabbit he found to Tony later that
day. Tony refused to pay Bruce anything.

Discuss whether Tony had entered into a contract with Carol, Bruce, Steve or P
epper. Support your answer with relevant contract law and/or case law, where a
pplicable.
Content

1. Introduction Pages 5

2. Carol Pages 6

3. Bruce Pages 6-7

4. Steve Pages 8-9

5. Pepper Pages 10-11

6. Conclusion Pages 11

7. Reference Pages 12-13

Introduction :
This assignment is that based on the contract law, the objective of this
assignment is to enable students to demonstrate their appreciation and underst
anding on contract law under the Contract Act 1950 (as amended) and case law.

What is the contract? According to (Ken LaMance 2020), a contract is an

agreement between two private parties that creates mutual legal obligations. A
ccording to (Arthur Taylor von Mehren 2020), the simplest definition of contra
ct was a promise powered by law. The promise was to do something or to stop fr
om doing something. To make a contract, require the mutual assent of two or mo
re persons, one person making an offer and another accepting. If one of the pa
rties failed to keep the promise they made, the other is entitled to legal red
ress. According to (Joseph Shinn 2020), There are six elements of a contract t
hat make it a legal and binding document. To make the contract enforceable, it
must contain an offer, acceptance, consideration, capacity of the parties, The
intent of both parties, and the Legally enforceable terms and conditions.

In the requirement, Tony has lost 4 pet rabbits, he places an advertisem

ent to find his rabbits. he will pay RM5000 for rewards to the person that ret
urns him the rabbits. There are 4 people that found Tony rabbits with differen
t methods which are Carol, Bruce, Steve and Pepper. Different methods cause To
ny don't know whether he should pay the rewards or not.

Issue of Carol :
In my opinion, I think Tony has not entered into a contract with Carol. The co
ntract made by Tony is a unilateral contract. There is no acceptance until the
relevant act has been completely performed. It must be an absolute and unquali
fied acceptance of all the terms of the offer. According to the Legal Rules Re
garding a Valid Acceptance, section 7(1) stated, the offeree must accept and a
chieve all the terms of the offer, even a slightest deviation is also not allo
wed. For example, Brandon says that he will pay Jack RM50 if Jack cleaned his
house, Jack would not be entitled to the money until the job is finished, and
could not do a half-way job and ask for RM25.

Lord Justice Bowen, a English judge, stated in CARLILL v. CARBOLIC SMOKE BALL
COMPANY case: “Although the offer is made to the world, the contract is made
with that limited portion of the public who come forward and perform the condi
tion on the faith of the advertisement.”

According to Contracts Act 1950 (Malaysia), Section 8 stated: “Performance of

the conditions of a proposal…is an acceptance of the proposal”. From this se
ction we can understand that if a proposal includes a condition to be fulfille
d by the offeree, the moment the offeree fulfills the condition that means acc
epts the offer. In such cases, communication of acceptance is not necessary. T
he performance of the condition of the offer automatically waives the requirem
ent of communication of acceptance and this is in fact an exception to the gen
eral rule that an acceptance to be effective must be communicated to the offer
or.

Carol, the offeree found one of the rabbits, but she didn’t return to Tony, t
he offeror immediately. Carol makes up her own mind to keep the rabbit warm an
d return the rabbit to Tony the next day. Unfortunately, on the road to Tony’
s house, the rabbit escaped from the cage and back to Tony’s house by itself.
In this case, Tony has no responsibility to pay Carol. It is because Carol did
n’t fulfill the terms of acceptance. Everyone has the possibility to say that
they found the rabbit. Carol has no evidence to show that the rabbit is found
by her. The contract only will be effective when Carol returns the rabbit to T
ony and asks for payment.

Issue of Bruce :
I think Tony had entered into a contract with Bruce. It is a unilateral contra
ct. A unilateral contract means a contract agreement in which an offeror promi
ses to pay after the occurrence of a specified act. Usually, unilateral contra
cts are most frequently used when an offeror has an open request within which
they’re willing to obtain for a specified act. According to Section 5 CA 195
0, an offeror may revoke the offer anytime before the communication of accepta
nce. A unilateral contract can or cannot be revoked after the offeree begins t
o perform its requirements depending on whether the contract is that of the pe
rformance type. Once an offeree starts a physical performance of the contract,
the offeror cannot revoke a unilateral contract. For example, once the person
begins climbing to the highest of the building, the offeror must pay if the pe
rson completes the task. Yet the offeror can revoke the reward type of unilate
ral contract at any time, so long as the offeror clearly conveys that they've
revoked the offer. It implies that if the offeror posted signs for the reward,
then the offeror should post similar signs stating that they've revoked the un
ilateral contract. In a reward type contract, the contract isn't fully perform
ed if the rabbit hasn't been found. Accordingly, an offeror of a unilateral co
ntract for such a reward can revoke it at any time before the rabbit is found.
Section 6 CA 1950 states an offer may be revoked by communication of notice of
revocation to the offeree. Tony had four pet rabbits which had been trained to
perform together as a group in a circus Tour. One of the rabbits found by Stev
e had been savaged by a dog and dead. Tony decided that in a concert of the ra
bbits was dead, there was no point in reassembling them as a performance grou
p. So he began to place leaflets in the city to let people know that the offer
had been canceled. But he is doing a different way to communicate with the off
eree. For Tony to effectively withdraw the offer, the withdrawal must be made
by a method that reaches substantially the same audience as the original offer
as is the principle in the case of Shuey v United States. As evidence, Tony pl
aced an advertisement in the local newspaper and on the internet, describing t
he rabbits and attaching pictures of them. But when he wanted to cancel the of
fer, he only placed leaflets about the city instead of the local newspaper and
on the internet. He didn’t use the identical way that he did initially. So th
is could cause a situation where some offeree accepted his offer but failed to
see the leaflets of canceling the reward to anyone who found those rabbits. Fo
r Bruce, he can argue that Tony didn’t do his best to communicate his withdra
wal of the offer to the general public. And within the case of Daulia Ltd v Fo
ur Millbank Nominees Ltd (1978) and Errington v Errin (1952), the rule is that
the offeror cannot withdraw their offer once an offeree has begun to carry out
the act of acceptance. Thus, Tony cannot withdraw his offer because Bruce had
started to find Tony’s rabbits. Bruce had spent three days searching for the
rabbits and spent RM200 on Grab fares. So Tony's new leaflet which state revok
ed advertisement won’t be accepted even Bruce failed to return the rabbit to
him immediately because his first leaflet did not mention the expiration date
and which had been accepted to Bruce. Another method of Section 6 CA 1950 is b
y lapse of time. An offer remains open until it has been accepted, rejected, r
evoked, or has lapsed. It is not possible to create a contract by accepting an
offer that has been revoked or rejected or has lapsed. An offer lapse if it is
not accepted within the stipulated time or when no time is stipulated, the off
er will lapse after a reasonable time. A reasonable time is a question of fact
depending on the subject matter of the contract, the means used to communicate
the offer, the language used, and other circumstances of the case. The adverti
sements placed by Tony did not mention any expiration date. Bruce did not see
any expiration date in the advertisement so he didn’t return the rabbit immed
iately after he used three days to find the rabbit. Bruce returns the rabbit w
ithin a week which is a reasonable time. In conclusion, I think that Tony stil
l must pay Rm5000 to Bruce to indicate that he achieved his promise because Br
uce had found Tony’s rabbit whether or not Bruce later returned the rabbits t
o Tony suddenly of Tony's canceled offer. Because Tony didn't mention the expi
red date within the advertisement, meaning Bruce can return the rabbit to Tony
in an exceedingly short time. Otherwise, Bruce may sue Tony in line with the l
aw shown on the above and sue him for the compensation of emotional damages. I
t is because Bruce had spent RM200 on Grab fares, traveling to various parts o
f the vicinity to go looking for rabbits for three days.

Issue of Steve :
According to the questions, Tony had four pet rabbits that trained to perform
together in a circus tour. The rabbits escaped from the cage. Tony placed an a
dvertisement to find his rabbits. He promised that he will pay Rm5000 for each
rabbit to anyone who returned the rabbits to him. Steve had found a rabbit but
the rabbit had been savaged by a dog and was dead. He took the dead rabbit to
Tony but Tony refused to pay him the rewards.

Tony and Steve didn’t sign a contract between both of them. If Steve has sign
ed a law with Tony, Tony should pay the rewards to them. According to contract
law (Law Teacher 2020) the purpose of contract law is to provide an effective
legal framework for the parties to resolve disputes and regulate contractual o
bligations. Contract law is mainly for self-regulation, and most contracts do
not need to be interfered. In fact, the court does not consider whether a cont
ract is fair; if it agrees to a contract, it will enforce the terms of the con
tract. However, in some cases, the court chose to deviate from the principle o
f freedom of contract. This has caused some people to use this loophole to abu
se the bargaining power of contract law. If Steve wants the rewards, he should
create a contract between Tony and him. The contract specifies that Tony shoul
d pay the rewards whether the rabbits are alive or dead. So that Tony pays the
rewards. After all, Tony also doesn't want a dead rabbit. If Tony doesn't want
to pay rewards, inside the contract should specify that dead rabbits cannot ge
t any rewards.

Furthermore , to create a contract must have a bilateral offer or unilateral

offer. So, if Steve wishes to get the rewards from Tony, he must add a bilater
al offer or unilateral, so that Tony will be willing to pay the rewards. Accor
ding to English Law(SHERISE GOO, 2018), a contract must have four basic elemen
ts: offer, corresponding acceptance, and intention to consider and establish a
legal relationship. In order to determine whether the contract is bilateral or
unilateral, we will have to study the elements of offer and acceptance. An off
er is some kind of statement indicating that the offeror finds a clear intent
ion of the terms immediately after accepting the offer, it can contain differe
nt terms. If the offer expresses the intention of a specific act or performanc
e, it will be a unilateral offer. On the other hand, if an offer only invites
another commitment, then it will be a bilateral offer. So, a bilateral offer i
s a promise that is used to exchange for another promise, and a unilateral off
er is a promise in exchange for a performance.

In conclusion, I think that Steve cannot get the rewards from Tony because he
didn’t have any contract between both of them. According to law, Tony can ref
use to pay the rewards to Steve because it won't be punished by the law if he
didn’t pay the rewards to Steve.
Issue of Pepper :
According to the question, Tony had four pet rabbits, one day the rabbits had
escaped their cages. Tony posted a search notice in the newspaper and internet
to find his rabbits. He promised to pay RM5000 for each rabbit to the person w
ho returned the rabbit to him. After that, Pepper, Tony’s wife, found one of
the rabbits in their daughter's room in the same house. Pepper supported her h
usband’s interest but she never liked the rabbits. After knowing Tony will pa
y to who returns each rabbit. She returned the rabbit and claimed the money wi
th Tony but Tony refused to pay his wife. Tony said that as a wife, there was
no benefit from this incident because Tony thinks that his wife has the respon
sibilities to take care of the rabbits while Tony was not at home.

Firstly, we need to determine whether there is a valid contract between Tony a

nd pepper. According to (Law teacher 2019) To determine which agreements are l
egally binding and subject to an intention to create legal relations or not, t
he law draws a distinction between domestic agreements and commercial agreemen
ts. According to (Pamela Cross 2016), domestic is a legal agreement for people
wishing to set their own terms in their relationships with one another person
and include cohabitation agreements, marriage contracts and separation agreeme
nts. However, according to (Upcounsel 2020), commercial agreement is a legally
binding contract between parties where both are required to do particular acti
vities or refrain from doing something.

The agreement between husband and wife was under domestic agreement. According
to (Farhanin Asuhaimi 2015) the general rule of domestic and family agreements
may don’t have the intention to create legal relations, but domestic contract
s are legally binding. To explain the presumption, may use the case of Balfour
v. Balfour 1919 as an example. According to (Zarmeen Jahan, 2019), in the case
of Balfour vs Balfour 1919, Mr and Mrs Balfour went to England to have a vacat
ion but Mrs Balfour became ill and needed medical attention. They make an agre
ement that Mrs Balfour has to remain in England because of medical attention b
ut the husband has to return to Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and he also makes a promise
that he will pay his wife £30 a month until he returns. However, later Mr Balf
our stopped making the payments. Mrs Balfour was requested to enforce the agre
ement. However, the court decided there is no valid contract between the parti
es since they had no intention to create a legally binding agreement at the ti
me the promise was made.

In conclusion, I think that pepper should not get rewarded. Because according
to (Nicola Laver LBB 2020) domestic agreements there was no intention to creat
e a legally binding agreement and courts are often reluctant to enforce them.
The offer that Tony made was unilateral and the acceptance made by pepper was
not valid.

Conclusion :
In this case, Tony does not create the contract with 4 of them, so he can cons
ider paying them the rewards. We think that Tony should pay the rewards to Car
ol and Bruce because Carol found his rabbit and helped him to take care of his
rabbit. About Bruce, he spent some money to help Tony find his rabbits, we thi
nk that Tony should pay him the rewards even if he didn't return the rabbit im
mediately. The next person is Steve, Tony can consider about to pay him the re
wards because the rabbit that he finds is already dead. Last is Pepper, she sh
ould not get the rewards because the offer that Tony made was unilateral and t
he acceptance made by pepper was not valid.
Reference :
Carol :

1. Fraz Ali, November 2019. Legal Rules Regarding Acceptance, viewed on 18

/8/2020

https://www.slideshare.net/frazali927/legal-rules-regarding-acceptance#:~:text
=Acceptance%20must%20be%20given%20by,whom%20the%20offer%20is%20made.&text=The%
20rule%20of%20law%20is,for%20A%20without%20your%20consent%E2%80%9D.&text=Lega
l%20Rules%20Regarding%20a%20Valid%20Acceptance%202,must%20be%20absolute%20and%
20unqualified.

2. All Answers Ltd. (November 2018). Essential Elements of a Contract in M

alaysia, viewed on 18/8/2020

https://www.lawteacher.net/free-law-essays/contract-law/essential-elements-
of-a-contract-in-malaysia-contract-law-essay.php?vref=1

3. LINDLEY, BOWEN and A. L. SMITH, L.JJ, Dec1892. Carvill v. Carbolic Smoke

Ball Company https://web.archive.org/web/20041205104916/http://www.justi
s.com/titles/iclr_r9321042.html

Bruce :

1. Young, Julie 2019, Unilateral contract, viewed on 18/8/2020, <https://w

ww.investopedia.com/terms/u/unilateral-contract.asp>.

2. L. DeLoe, Esq , Ronna 2019, Understanding your unilateral contract, vi

ewed on 18/8/2020

<https://www.legalzoom.com/articles/understanding-your-unilateral-contra
ct#:~:text=Specific%20to%20the%20performance%20type,t%20revoke%20a%20uni
lateral%20contract.>
 3. All Answers Ltd. November 2018, Examples of Offer Termination, viewed o
n 18/8/2020

<https://www.lawteacher.net/free-law-essays/contract-law/examples-of-off
er-termination-contract-law-essay.php >

Steve :

1. Law Teacher, 2020, Contract Law, viewed on 17/8/2020.

https://www.lawteacher.net/modules/contract-law/

2. SHERISE GOO, 2018, Unilateral and Bilateral Offer, viewed on 18/8/2020.

https://sheriselawstudies.wordpress.com/2018/05/22/unilateral-vs-bilateral-con
tracts/

Pepper :

1. Ken LaMance, 2020, What is contract?, viewed on 12/8/2020, https://www.l

egalmatch.com/law-library/article/what-is-a-contract.html
2. Arthur Taylor von Mehren 2020, Contract law, viewed on 12/8/2020,

https://www.britannica.com/topic/contract-law

3. Joseph Shinn, 2020, Contract Law Terms: Definitions & Contract Types, vi
ewed on 13/8/2020, https://study.com/academy/lesson/contract-law-terms-d
efinitions-contract-types.html
4. Law teacher, 2019, Requirement of Intention to Create Legal Relations, v
iewed on 16/8/2020, https://www.lawteacher.net/free-law-essays/contract-
law/requirement-of-intention-to-create-legal-relations-contract-law-essa
y.php
5. Pamela Cross, 2016, What are domestic contracts, viewed on 16/8/2020, ht
tps://lukesplace.ca/what-are-domestic-contracts-2/
6. Upcounsel, 2020, Commercial Agreement: Everything You Need to Know, view
ed on 16/8/2020, https://www.upcounsel.com/commercial-agreement
7. Farhanin Asuhaimi, 2015, The application of contract law principles in d
omestic contracts, viewed on 16/8/2020, https://www.researchgate.net/pub
lication/316545096_The_application_of_contract_law_principles_in_domesti
c_contracts#:~:text=A%20domestic%20contract%20refers%20to,domestic%20con
tracts%20are%20legally%20binding.
8. Zarmeen Jahan, 2019, Landmark Case - Balfour vs. Balfour, viewed on 17/8
/2020, https://www.lawyered.in/legal-disrupt/articles/landmark-case-balf
our-vs-balfour/
9. Nicola Laver LBB, 2020, Domestic agreements, viewed in 17/8/2020, https:
//www.inbrief.co.uk/marriage-law/domestic-agreements/