Law: Law denotes rules and principle either enforced by an authority to control peoples behavior.

Characteristics: rules and principle, enforced by an authority, to control peoples behavior. Business Law: is the branch of law which comprises laws concerning trade, industry and commerce. It is an ever growing branch of law with changing circumstances of trade and commerce. Sources Of business Law: 1. 2. 3. 4. Historical sources (common law-conduct of common life & equity) Legal Sources (judicial precedents, legislation , custom, religion) Subsidiary Sources (law merchant, roman law) European Community sources (regulations & decisions of EC, European State)

Branches of law-1. International 2. Constitutional 3. Criminal 4. Civil 5. Mercantile or business law etc. Three Rules of law1. No man punishable except for breach of law. 2. No man is above the law 3. The result of statutes and judicial decisions determining the rights of private persons. Sources of business law1. 2. 3. 4. English mercantile law The statute law Judicial decisions or precedents Custom & usages

Sources of BD commercial law1. 2. 3. 4. Statutes of Bangladeshi legislatures English mercantile law Judicial decisions or precedents Custom & usages

Contract- An agreement enforceable by law is contract section 2(H) of contract act 1872. Two things are important for a contract-1. An agreement, 2. Legal obligation Agreement-an agreement comes into existence whenever one or more persons promise to one or others, to do or not to do something. All agreements cannot be enforceable by law. (An agreement to play cards or go to cinema.) Characteristics of agreements -1. Plurality of persons 2. Consensus ad idem. Legal obligation- All contracts are agreements but all agreements are not contracts.

Essential elements of contract1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Offer & acceptance Intention to create legal relationship Lawful consideration Capacity of parties Free consent Lawful object Writing & registration Certainty Possibility of performance Not expressed declared void.

Offer and acceptance- lawful offer and acceptance of the offer results an agreement. The lawful implies that the offer and acceptance must satisfy the requirements of the contract act. Intention to create legal relations- an agreement to dine at a friends house is not an agreement intended to create legal relations and therefore is not a contract. Illustration: M promises his wife N to get a saree if she sing a song. N sang the song but M did not bring the saree for her. N cannot bring an action in a court to enforce the agreement as it lacked the intention to create legal relations. LWFUL Consideration: It is defined as the price paid by one party for the promise f the other. An agreement is legally enforceable only when each of the parties to it gives something & gets something. The something given or obtained is the price for the promise & is called consideration. Consideration may be related to doing something or not doing something. It may past present or future. Consideration is lawful unless it is forbidden by law. Capacities of parties: In order to be competent to contract the parties must b of the age of maturity and sound mind and must not to disqualified from contracting by any law to which they are subject (sec11). Incapable persons: Minority, Lunacy, Idiocy, Drunkenness. Free Consent: Consent means that the parties must have agreed upon the same thing in the same sense. There is absence of free consent, if the agreement is induced by Coercion, Undue influence, Fraud, Misrepresentation, Mistake. Lawful Object: The object for which the agreement has been entered into must not be: 1. Fraudulent 2. Illegal 3. Immoral

4. Opposed to the public policy 5. Must not imply injury to the person or property of another. Writing & Registration: In Indian Law 1. Contract may be oral or written 2. But in certain cases, it must be written. E.G- Agreement to pay a time barred debt. Or an arbitration agreement must be in writing. An agreement for a sale of immovable property must be in writing and registered. Certainty: Example - A agrees to sell B a hundred tons of oil. There is nothing whatever to show what kind of oil was intended. The agreement is void for uncertainty. Possibility of Performance: An agreement to do an act impossible in itself is void - section 56 Example- A agreed with B that he will give him a ring which will be collected from the sun. Kinds of Contracts-In Point of View of Enforceability: 1. valid contract 2. Voidable contract 3. Void or unenforceable or illegal contract 4. Unenforceable contract 5. Illegal or unlawful contract Valid Contract: An agreement enforceable by law and when all the essential elements of a valid contract as enumerated in previous section.Example An agreement between A and B for selling a house for tk. 5,00,000. Voidable Contract: An agreement enforceable by law at the option of one or more of the parties thereto, but not at the option of the other or others, is voidable contract - section 2(i) Usually contract becomes voidable when it is obtained by:Coercion, undue influence, misrepresentation, or fraud. Conditions 1. Contract will be voidable at the option of the aggrieved party 2. The aggrieved party must exercise option of rejecting the contract 3. Rejection will be made within a time period 4. Rejection will be made before the rights of third parties intervene. Example A threatens to shoot B if he does not sell his new Bajaj Scooter to A for tk. 2,000. B agrees. The contract has been brought about by coercion and is voidable at the option of B. Void Contract: Void means not binding in law

Reasons for which transform a valid contract into void: 1. Supervening impossibility-Example- A and B contract to marry each other. Before the time fixed for the marriage, A goes mad. 2. Subsequent Illegality-Example-A agrees to sell B 100 bags of wheat at tk. 650 per bag. Before delivery, the government bans private trading in wheat. 3. Repudiation of a Voidable Contract- Example -M by threatening to murder Bs son, makes B agree to sell his car worth tk. 30,000 for a sum of tk. 10,000 only. The contract, being the result of coercion, is voidable at the option of B. B may either affirm or reject the contract. Unenforceable Contract: It is valid in itself, but is not capable of being enforced in court of law because of some technical defect, such as, absence of Writing Registration Requisite stamp etc. Illegal or Unlawful Contract: Illegal means contrary to law. An illegal agreement is void ab-initio i.e., void from the beginning. An agreement is illegal, if its object or consideration: is forbidden by law is fraudulent involves or implies injury to the person or property of another The court regards it as immoral or opposed to public policy is of such nature that, if permitted, it would defeat the provisions of any law Kinds of Contract-In Point of View of Mode of Creation: 1. Express Contract- Example: A tells B on telephone that he offers to sell his car for tk. 20,000 and in reply B informs A that he accepts the offer, there is an express contract. 2. Implied Contract- Example: A, a coolie in uniform takes up the luggage of B to be carried out of the Railway Station without being asked by B, and B allows him to do so, then the law implies that B agrees to pay for the services of A, and there is an implied contract. 3. Constructive or Quasi Contract- Example: Obligation of finder of lost goods to return them to the true owner 4. Executed contract- When both the parties to contract have completely performed their share of obligation and nothing remains to be done by either party under contract. 5. Executory Contract- It is one in which both the obligations are outstanding.