When these voluntarily created civil obligations are there, it is known that law of contract will be enforced and there is certain amount of certainty related to it. –illustrate & explain
Introduction
Contract means a binding agreement between two parties where both parties would honor the contract at all type and if any single party of the two or more involved ones breach the contract at any point of time, the other party can take legal steps against the accused party. With that legal binding agreement come legal responsibilities that all associated parties have to follow at all time.1 it is quite impossible to think of today’s business world without contracts. With so many parties being involved in a transaction from both inside and outside of the country, it would have been impossible to earn what a person deserves if there were no strict rules and regulations in the name of contract. Law ties both parties in a sort of responsibility, as there are many things that all parties have to follow at any given time, it brings stability and belief to the overall situation.
A contract is an agreement between two parties, where both parties are answerable to law. They have to follow contract at every time because law is entitled to it. Section 2(h) of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 says that an agreement that can be enforced by the law is a contract. Section 2(e) defines agreement as “every promise and every set of promises forming consideration for each other.” Section 2(b) further proves this: “When the person to whom the proposal is made signifies his assent thereto, the proposal is said to be accepted. A proposal when accepted becomes a promise.” From these definitions it is also noticeable that all agreements are not contracts. Only those agreements that are tied with law can be referred as contracts Law of contract is important as it bring respect and stability in the society and those who do not follow must be punished according to the law but whether a person has done something voluntarily or involuntarily that has to be taken under account before giving any prior judgment that will affect both related parties. [1]
Civil Obligation
Generally obligation means a relationship where one party who is known as the obligor, has to do some act or work in favor of the other party who is known as oblige. In an obligation, one party is always liable to another party. If there was no obligation in a legal relationship, one party would always think of his or her own interests only and would not bother what are his or her responsibilities to the other party. Obligations can be imposed by many things like law, promise or contract and this in general means duty.
Civil obligation is duties of people towards a society. Civil obligations are the do’s and don’ts in a society. There are many things about which society tells people what to do and what not to do. In other words, these are the elements that are found in private law in a civil system. Civil obligation deals with voluntary or semi voluntary ethical, formal relations which are enforced by law. In a civil obligation, the obligor who is also known as the debtor, has a specific duty, responsibility towards the other party who is the creditor or the oblige.7
Civil obligations can be both voluntary and semi voluntary. Society puts these obligations on the citizens of a country and these obligations are backed by law these are known as civil law. This means, if one person does not obey to the rules and regulations that have been set by the society, there will be legal actions taken against him and he will be called in the court of law. The first person to define civil obligation was Justinian. In his book, Institutiones, Book 3, section 13 he quoted civil obligations as “a legal bond, with which we are bound by necessity of performing some act according to the laws of our state.”8 Founder of the Brandeis Law School, University of Louisville, Mr. Louis Dembitz Brandeis, he himself commented on civil obligations. He said,” Law seems so interesting to me in all its aspects. It is difficult for me to understand that any of the initiated should not burn from enthusiasm.”9[2]
Civil obligations are the rules and regulations that society imposes and if not followed, it can be enforced by the law and there will be some punishment.
Sources of civil obligations
There are few sources of civil obligations. These sources of civil obligations are10
· Law
· Contracts
· Quasi Contracts
· Acts or omissions punished by law
· Quasi-delicts
Law
Law is the specific rules and regulations of a particular country or region that controls the activities of the members and this also enforces penalties as punishment.11 Law generally takes place for voluntary or semi voluntarily created civil obligations. If it is proved that the accused party was voluntarily involved in breaching an agreement, then court of law will take action against the accused individual or party. These laws are written rules and guidelines for citizens and non residents in the constitution. Law cannot be presumed and the authority that makes law has to think of the ins and outs of the consequences and necessity of such laws before applying those.
Contract
Contract is known as an agreement between two or more interested parties where all related parties promises that by accepting some benefits in return both party will give each other some agreed favor in return. Both parties mutually agree on the terms and conditions of the contract, analyze them and then sign them. Contracts are backed the court of law, and both parties must abide by these laws. [3]
The valuable benefit both parties receive in return in a contract is known as consideration. In a contract there has to be some relevant data or elements like an offer, an acceptance of the offer, an assurance of completing and abiding the agreement, a worthy, affective consideration for both parties in return of their responsibility and accountability towards the contract, terms and conditions, ifs and buts of the contract and what would happen if a person breaches the contract. Law of contract controls the relationship of people that is mastered, regulated, controlled by the rules and regulations.
Law of contract comes into effect only when a civil obligation has been created voluntarily.13 When a person knowingly enter into contract, only then law of contract comes into effect. Law of contract is enforced when a civil obligation is created. Voluntary obligations are those obligations that one imposed on themselves voluntarily, by their word or deed. With the help of voluntary obligations people can take over relationships that cannot be carried forward if voluntary obligation was not there. Voluntary obligations are generally divided into two types known as voluntary undertakings and consecutive obligations.14 not all agreements give birth to voluntarily create civil obligations. Agreements that are backed by law, only those agreements are voluntary and these are known as contracts. There are many forms of contracts available. Some of those are bilateral contracts and consensual contracts. Voluntary civil obligations are created when an obligation is formally written or oral, both parties where in their full conscience and no one was forced to enter into the contract. There are many cases where one of the parties was forced, feared and then signed on the contract, in these situations an agreement will not be accepted in the court of law.
To be a valid contract, an agreement has to be made and verified mutually and mutual obligatory agreements are the basis of law of contract. Penalty can only be proposed by the law of contract if the agreement is voluntary and not void. It is the main and foremost criteria of law of contract. Mutual agreements are those which are not dominated by the obligations that have been offered in a contract. Law of contract is absolutely essential in a country to bring peace and order and to make sure that the citizens of the country are abiding by the law and anyone disobeys the rules and regulations that have been set by the rule of law, that person will be taken under consideration.
Law of contract enforces voluntarily created civil obligations. There is strong relationship between law of contract and law of covenant. Covenant is a promise or an understanding of both parties that is formally written and shown in a deed, now a day’s law of covenants are frequently been referred as law of contracts. For these and many other reasons, considerations are quite different from bargains. There are many obligations that are voluntary and these voluntarily created civil obligations need legal and formal recognition, otherwise it is difficult to enforce those contracts in the law of contract. It is clear that law of contract is referred protecting or saving only the practice of making bargain agreements.15 It is known that in a true bargain, one party thinks of their own interests and forgets that the other party is also in the line and hoping for a benefit and consideration in return. But in a true and real agreement it is a must to think of both the related party’s benefits before entering into a contract. whenever there are voluntary civil obligations, this means both the party’s considerations have been taken into account and both of their interests are tied with the contract and both will be beneficial from this contract.
The enforcement of agreement is another important aspect in law of contract. It is important that law can actually enforce their decisions and bring justice and equilibrium in the society. Civil law and civil obligations make people do things according to the law and prescribed guidelines.17 If it is seen than peoples interests are being vandalized, according to the validity of the contract, relative actions will be taken. If an obligation is created voluntarily, only then law of contract will be enforced. Nature of a contract, freedom of a contract, limitations of that particular contract, strength of the contract, these things also have to be thought out before preparing an agreement and transferring that into a contract. There are many specific acts, provisions; omissions have been made to be punished by the law. These acts help both parties to stay on the same foot at one time and to make sure both parties’ interests have been fulfilled.
Opinion
Law of contract provides security, makes people follow law, but it does only to those civil obligations that are voluntarily created. There are many good and helpful things that have been seen here. One of which is that law of contract does not take natural obligations into account. Natural obligation also binds two people or parties into a contract but this cannot be enforced in the court of law. Civil obligation is a legal bond and it gives the contracted parties to enforce the obligations performance in the court of law. But in natural obligation, there is no place for law as decisions are made by natural justice. Law of contract makes sure that whoever the parties are in the agreement, they abide by the law and work accordingly and if they do not, there is severe punishment regarding their activities. This forces people to follow rules and regulations at all time during when they are in a contract.
Conclusion
Law is a basic necessity to have equilibrium in a society and to bring stability. Law of contract makes sure that those agreement that are written formally known as contracts, give people the required assurance. Law of contract makes sure that there is certain amount of certainty. Especially in business, it is must to enter into a contract while dealing with various parties. When these voluntarily created civil obligations are there, it is known that law of contract will be enforced and there is certain amount of certainty related to it. When some does not enter into civil obligations voluntarily, law of contract will not be in effect.
References
Brandeis, L. D. Duhaine Lawisms(1941). Brandeis Law School
Civil Obligation (Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_obligations)
Civil Obligation (Retrieved from http://www.webster-dictionary .org / definition /Civil %20 obligation)
Civil Obligation (Retrieved from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/obligation)
Civil Obligation (Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/obligation)
Civil Obligation (Retrieved from http://www.lectlaw.com/def2/o001.html)
Corbin, A. Conditions in the law of contract. (January, 1919)Yale law school
Corbin, Arthur, “Conditions in the Law of Contract” (1919). Faculty Scholarship Series. Paper 2851
Definition of and obligation. Book 3, Section 13 derived from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_obligations
Federal Act On The Amendment of the Swiss Cicil Code. (March 30, 1911). The Federal Assembly of the Swiss Confederation
Law of Contract (Retrieved from http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/law-of-contract.html)
Law of Contract (Retrieved from http://www.ventureline.com/accounting-glossary/C/contract-law-definition/)
Law of Contract (Retrieved from http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/contract+law)
Law of Contract (Retrieved from http://tutor2u.net/law/notes/contract-elements.html)
Law of Contract (Retrieved from http://www.duhaime.org/LegalDictionary/C/ContractLaw.aspx)
Moffat.G. Trust Law. Text and Materials.(2nd Ed, ch 16, 1994)
Penner, J. E. Voluntary obligations and the scope the law of contract. Department of Law. Brunel University
Penner, J. E. Voluntary obligations and the scope the law of contract. Department of Law. Brunel University. At 345-47
Raz, 95 Harv. L. REV.supra note. At 933-38
The Indian contract Act, 1872. (Retrieved from http://www.vakilno1.com/bareacts/indiancontractact/indiancontractact.html)
The Indian Contract Act, 1872. (Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Contract_Act_1872)
The Indian Contract Act, 1872. Section 2(h) (Retrieved from http://chddistrictcourts.gov.in/THE%20INDIAN%20CONTRACT%20ACT.pdf)
14 See Raz, 95 Harv. L. REV.supra note. At 933-38