Importance of Free Consent in a Contract

If only one party makes a mistake in a contract, it is called a unilateral error. If the other party is not aware of the error, the enforceability of the contract will not be affected. If a unilateral error is related to a fact, the contract will not be affected. If both parties make exactly the same mistake in a contract and that error is related to an important fact in the agreement, the contract becomes invalid. However, if the error concerns the legal consequences of the contract, it nevertheless remains valid and binding. If there is no agreement between two parties, implicit or express, no contract exists. Only valid contracts can be applied. The court is the only body capable of performing a contract between two parties. The court will only enforce agreements that already exist, which means they cannot create an agreement by imposing conditions on the parties.

We talk about how consent can be influenced, and in case of coercion, undue influence, fraud and misrepresentation, the agreement will usually be questionable according to the will of the oppressed party. However, in the event of an error, the parties may cancel the contract only in situations where there is a bilateral error of the party in relation to the important facts of the agreement or if there is a problem with the knowledge of foreign law. The burden of proof lies with the party who claims to make false statements to evade the contract, to prove that a false statement was used to obtain consent. If consent is obtained by misrepresentation, it may be revoked at the choice of the party who obtained the consent. The error exists if the consent of the contracting parties is caused by an error. No free consent is required for the validity of the contract. Both parties enter into the contract due to a misunderstanding of the fact relating to the agreement. This means that there would be no agreement between the parties if they were aware of the facts. In the case of insurance contracts, even if a policyholder accepts the same things in the same way, the contract is still not valid if he did not have his free consent when signing the contract. These are the most important requirements for the conclusion of the contract. And the contract must be the free consent of the parties. Free consent is mandatory for the contract.

This is the meaning of a valid contract. This law defines contracts as an agreement between two or more parties that is legally enforceable. It should therefore be noted that only legally enforceable agreements can be qualified as contracts. The agreement must meet certain essential conditions set out in section 10 of the Indian Contracts Act to be enforceable. These conditions are: In this case, the buyer and seller have entered into an agreement according to which the seller must deliver a load of cotton to arrive “ex peerless from Bombay”. There were two ships of the same name, that is, Peerless, and both were to depart from Bombay, one in October and the other in December. The buyer had in mind to sail incomparably in October, while the seller thought of the ship that sailed in December. The seller sent the cotton shipped in December, but the buyer refused to accept it. In this case, the offer and acceptance did not match and there was no contract. Therefore, it was determined that the buyer was entitled to refuse to accept delivery. In another case De Perlis Plantations Bhd v.

Mohammad Abdullah, Ang (1988) [1CLJ 670] gave a limited meaning. The court held that the English customary law of “economic coercion” was unacceptable in the case of the express provision of the Contracts Act 1950, as the judge noted that in Malaysian contract law, the definition of coercion is the only one that is applicable (Lee Detta, 2009). “Coercion” means the act of committing or threatening to commit an act prohibited by the Indian Penal Code, or unlawful detention or threatening to withhold property, against the bias of a person who seeks to induce a person to enter into an agreement. It is important to remember that the IPC does not have to apply to the place where consent was obtained. The phrase “to the detriment of any person” is an important element of the law because it means that coercion can be directed against the harm of anyone, not just the contracting party. Nor is it necessary for coercion to be exercised solely by the Contracting Party. Sometimes a third party of the contract may resort to coercion to obtain consent. In the case of coercive cases, the burden of proof lies with the party for whom consent has been executed. Whenever a party`s consent is given by force, the contract becomes voidable at the choice of the party from whom consent was obtained in that manner. The threat of suicide is also coercion, and the party concerned has the right to refuse the contract. Invalid contract: Invalid reference The contract is totally invalid or illegal from day one. If a party capable of controlling the will of the other enters into a contract and the contract initially appears unscrupulous, the onus is on the dominant party to prove that consent was not obtained through undue influence.

If the purpose is found to be illegal or violates section 14 of the Contracts Act (CA) of 1950, the contract is unenforceable, it is recognized as a voidable contract. Article 14 of the CA 1950 states that consent is free if it is not caused by any of these elements: fraud is given under article 17 of the Act. If the consent of one of the parties is obtained by fraud on the contract, the consent is not free. The contract concluded on the basis of the consent given by fraud is voidable at the choice of the party. Undue influence is specified in § 16 of the Act. The consent of a contracting party to the contract obtained by undue influence is not recognized as the free consent of the party necessary for the performance of the contract. The contract, which is concluded on the basis of consent given by undue influence, is voidable at the discretion of the party influenced by other parties. Free consent is one of the most essential elements of a legally valid contract. The term free consent refers to the meeting of free and fresh minds of two or more parties to an agreement when two parties accept the purpose, purpose and terms of the agreement in the same sense and understand that it is free consent. Both must do things the same way.

For a contract to be binding and sound, this consensus must have been reached without any form of coercion, fraud, undue influence, fraud or pressure. In addition, the contract must be free from errors or misrepresentations on the part of both parties. If consent is obtained in this way, the contract will be considered null and void and legally unenforceable. For example, if a person has been forced to sign a life insurance policy by a family member who is the designated beneficiary of the policy, the policy is invalid because they did not voluntarily purchase it. In this case, the contract is considered cancellable. The conclusion of a valid contract only really takes place if there is free consent of all parties involved, for any reason or for what reasons. Here we focus on an essential part of a legitimate contract, namely free consent and its importance in contract law. In the event of fraud, the burden of proof lies with the accused party. The party must prove the circumstances that could lead to the existence of fraud. The mere mention of fraud in the records is not enough. The contract is void if the party whose consent was obtained by fraud had the opportunity or means to discover the truth with ordinary care.

A contract can only be valid or legally binding if there is consent. Consent essentially exists when two parties agree to enter into a contract with each other. Consent cannot be given under pressure. If one or both parties have given their consent under duress, the contract is not legally valid. In case of undue influence or coercion, it is presumed that it is not possible for the parties to give their consent voluntarily. A type of contract is a contract under seal. This type of contract can only be legally executed if it has been sealed. The purpose of the stamped seal is to indicate that both parties have accepted the contract and are aware of the legal consequences of the contract. The rest of this report will explain in detail free consent and the elements of an avoidable treaty. .