Scots contract law governs the rules of

contract A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tran ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

Contract A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tran ...

is created by

bilateral Bilateral may refer to any concept including two sides, in particular: * Bilateria, bilateral animals *Bilateralism, the political and cultural relations between two states *Bilateral, occurring on both sides of an organism ( Anatomical terms of ...

agreement and should be distinguished from a unilateral promise, the latter being recognised as a distinct and enforceable species of obligation in Scots Law. The English requirement for

consideration Consideration is a concept of English common law and is a necessity for simple contracts but not for special contracts (contracts by deed). The concept has been adopted by other common law jurisdictions. The court in ''Currie v Misa'' declared ...

does not apply in Scotland, so it is possible to have a ''gratuitous'' contract, i.e. a contract where only one of the parties comes under any duties to the other (e.g. a contract to perform services for no consideration). If, however, consideration is given, as for example in a sales contract, the contract is said to be ''onerous''. A contract is an agreement between two or more parties which creates or intends to create legally binding obligations between the parties to it. Note however that not all declarations made by a person to another person will amount to a promise that is enforceable under Scots law. In particular, a declaration of intention, a testamentary provision, and an offer will not be a promise. At common law, a promise had to be proved by

writ In common law, a writ (Anglo-Saxon ''gewrit'', Latin ''breve'') is a formal written order issued by a body with administrative or judicial jurisdiction; in modern usage, this body is generally a court. Warrants, prerogative writs, subpoenas, a ...

oath Traditionally an oath (from Anglo-Saxon ', also called plight) is either a statement of fact or a promise taken by a sacrality as a sign of verity. A common legal substitute for those who conscientiously object to making sacred oaths is to ...

. However, after the introduction of the Requirements of Writing (Scotland) Act 1995, a promise need only be evidenced in writing for: * the creation, transfer, variation or extinction of a real right in land (s 1(2) (a)(i) of Requirements of Writing (Scotland) Act 1995); and * a gratuitous unilateral obligation except an obligation undertaken in the course of business (s 1(2)(a)(ii) of Requirements of Writing (Scotland) Act 1995.) [Note that this section has caused great debate amongst academics as to the meanings of ‘unilateral’ and ‘gratuitous’. Some believe that the inclusion of the two terms in this section points to a desire of the drafters that they be given different meanings. This would allow some promises to be unilateral but not gratuitous. This argument was particularly discussed by both Martin Hogg (University of Edinburgh) and Joe Thomson (University of Glasgow) in articles for the Scots Law Times (News) in 1998 and 1997 respectively. A Contract is formed by the acceptance of an offer; an offer can be constituted by responding to an

invitation to treat An invitation to treat (or invitation to bargain in the United States) is a concept within contract law which comes from the Latin phrase ''invitatio ad offerendum'', meaning "inviting an offer". According to Professor Andrew Burrows, an invitat ...

. Variation of the original offer counts as counter-offer. A leading piece of legislation in Scots contract law is the Contract (Scotland) Act 1997. This act includes damages for breach of contract of sale.

References

*Martin Hogg. ''Obligations'', 2nd edn. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006. *Martin Hogg. ''Promises and contract law: Comparative perspectives''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011. *Hector L. MacQueen & J. M. Thomson. ''Contract law in Scotland'', 5th edn. Haywards Heath, West Sussex: Bloomsbury Professional, 2020. *Hector L. MacQueen & Reinhard Zimmermann, eds. ''European contract law: Scots and South African perspectives''. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University, 2006. *William W. McBryde. ''The law of contract in Scotland'', 3rd edn. Edinburgh: W. Green, 2007. Scots private law

Contract law A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tran ...

Contract law Law of obligations {{Scotland-law-stub

See also

References