TUTORIAL LAW083 ACCEPTANCE 26/8

1. Acceptance is one of the 7 elements to form a valid contract. The definition of acceptance
is stated under Section 2(b) of the Contracts Act 1950 which is, if the person to whom the
offer is made, agrees or accepts the offer, there is an acceptance. The person accepting
the offer is called an offeree.

There are two conditions of valid acceptance. First, the acceptance made by offeree must
be absolute and unqualified for it to be considered as valid which aligned with Section
7(a) of Contracts Act 1950. This means the acceptance must be made without any
condition and modification to the original offer. It must be the exactly on the same term
of the original offer. For example, Ali is offering to sell his handphone for RM300 to
Abu. Abu accepts the offer without any other condition and is willingly to buy the
handphone for RM300. Therefore, the acceptance made by Abu is valid. In the case of
Hyde V Wrench, the defendant offered to sell his farm to the plaintiff for $1000. The
plaintiff made a counteroffer to buy the farm only for $950 and the defendant refused to
sell. However, the plaintiff changed his mind and offered to buy the farm for $1000.
After the defendant refused to sell his farm, the plaintiff sued for specific performance.
The court held that there was no valid binding contract as the plaintiff had rejected the
original offer.

Next, according to Section 7(b) of Contracts Act 1950, the offeree must express and
communicate the acceptance in a usual and reasonable manner. The offeree can use any
method such as phone call, text messages or social media as long as the offeror can
understand that the offeree is making an acceptance. Next, if the offeror prescribes a
certain mode of acceptance, the offeree must follow the said mode. The offeror may
reject the acceptance if the offeree did not follow the said mode. Include the case

2. Section 7(a) of Contracts Act 1950 states that the acceptance made by offeree must be
absolute and unqualified. This means the offeree must accept the offer without any other
condition or modification to the original offer. Counteroffer is a rejection of the original
offer, and it is not valid as acceptance. For example, Ali is offering to sell his handphone
 for RM300 to Abu. Abu made a counteroffer which he is only willingly to buy the
handphone if Ali gives him RM50 discount. Therefore, Abu is not making any
acceptance and it is considered as a new offer.

The decided case for this situation is Hyde V Wrench. The defendant offered to sell his
farm to the plaintiff for $1000. The plaintiff made a counteroffer to buy the farm only for
$950 and the defendant refused to sell. However, the plaintiff changed his mind and
offered to buy the farm for $1000. After the defendant refused to sell his farm, the
plaintiff sued for specific performance. The court held that there was no valid binding
contract as the plaintiff had rejected the original offer.

3. General rule states that acceptance must be communicated. This means, silence does not
amount to an acceptance. If the offeree agrees to accept the offer, he should communicate
it so that the offeror has the knowledge that offeree is accepting the offer. If the offeree
has the intention to accept the offer but fail to communicate the acceptance, then there is
no valid acceptance. The offeror cannot make assumptions that the offeree will accept the
offer. There must be a clear communication with both of the parties. The offeror also
cannot put a condition in his offer stating that the silence of the offeree is an acceptance.
There must be a positive conduct that signifies the acceptance.

In the case of Felthouse V Blindley, the plaintiff wrote to his nephew offering to purchase
a horse. He added that if he receives no letter in return, he considered the horse is sold to
him. However, the auctioneer sold the horse by mistake and got sued by the plaintiff. The
court held that the plaintiff had no right to impose upon his nephew the sale of his horse
through silence because there was no valid acceptance by the plaintiff’s nephew.

I: The issue is whether the acceptance made by Sonati to the offer is absolute and unqualified.
L: One of the conditions for the acceptance to be valid is it must be absolute and unqualified
which aligned with Section 7(a) of Contracts Act 1950. This means the acceptance must be made
without any condition and modification to the original offer. It must be exactly on the same term
of the original offer. For example, Ali is offering to sell his handphone for RM300 to Abu. Abu
accepts the offer without any other condition and is willingly to buy the handphone for RM300.
Therefore, the acceptance made by Abu is valid. In the case of Hyde V Wrench, the defendant
offered to sell his farm to the plaintiff for $1000. The plaintiff made a counteroffer to buy the
farm only for $950 and the defendant refused to sell. However, the plaintiff changed his mind
and offered to buy the farm for $1000. After the defendant refused to sell his farm, the plaintiff
sued for specific performance. The court held that there was no valid binding contract as the
plaintiff had rejected the original offer. Define acceptance and explain what is counter offer and
what are the conditions
A: In this situation of Sonati, the acceptance made by her is not absolute and unqualified.
According to Section 7(a) of Contracts Act, in order for the acceptance to be valid, Sonati must
not make any modification to the original offer made by Nazria. However, Sonati made the
counteroffer, and is considered making a new offer. Thus, the acceptance is not valid and Nazria
had the right to reject or to accept the offer.
C: In conclusion, Sonati had no rights to sue Nazria for specific performance because she had
rejected the original offer by making counteroffer, hence there was no valid binding contract
between them.

I: The issue is whether the acceptance made by Aris is communicated and complete. Mention
about the postal rule
L: General rule states that acceptance must be communicated. However, there is an exception to
this rule. The acceptance need not to be communicated if the acceptance is made by post.
Acceptance through postal rule is where the offeree uses post as a medium of communication of
the acceptance. According to Section 4(2)(a) of the Contracts Act 1950, the communication of
acceptance is complete when the offeree posts the letter. Therefore, the offeror is bound to
perform his promise even though there is any delay or disappearance to the letter. In the case of
Ignatius V Bell, the defendant states that the option to purchase a piece of land must be exercised
on or before 20th August by letter. The plaintiff posted the letter on 16th August. However, the
defendant only received the letter on 25th August. The plaintiff sued the defendant for specific
performance.
A: In the situation of Aris, he accepted the proposal by posting a letter of acceptance. Even
though the letter never reached Kamal, the acceptance made by Aris is complete and valid. This
is because according to Section 4(2)(a) of Contracts Act, the communication is complete when
Aris posted the letter, not when Kamal received the letter. Thus, Kamal is bound to sell his
antique car to Aris even though the letter had disappeared and never reached him.
C: In conclusion, the acceptance made by Aris is communicated and complete, thus there is a
valid binding contract with them.