Common Law Assignment: Case Assessment Using The IRAC Method
Question
Question 1 : Avinash is a regular visitor to a local café that provides a self-service facility where customers have the option of selecting a drink or food item from a menu displayed on a touch screen located near the counter. To select a product, a customer only has to touch an image or icon showing the desired product, and then touch a virtual ‘OK’ button to submit an order. The order is relayed to the café’s front counter where the cashiers can view it on their own screens.
Customers using the touch screen are immediately issued with a printed ticket containing an order number and the price payable at the front counter.
Customers present these tickets to the cashiers who confirm the relayed order appearing on their screens. At this point, the customers pay for their purchases and await delivery.
This system is designed to save time during peak periods and is very popular. Some customers place their orders as takeaways, while others, like Avinash, prefer to be seated and consume them on the premises. These preferences are preselected by the customers when they use the touch screen.
When Avinash reached the cashier, he paid $4 for the coffee he had ordered and then took a seat waiting for it to be served at his table.
The next morning, Avinash returned and ordered his usual coffee- and for the first time, a Danish pastry- using the self- service facility. The total cost was $7.50 which he duly paid. As he sat in the café consuming his drink, he bit into the pastry and struck something hard, breaking a tooth. He examined the chewed remains and found a piece of metal that had somehow been lodged in the pastry.
The next morning, Avinash returned and ordered his usual coffee- and for the first time, a Danish pastry- using the self- service facility. The total cost was $7.50 which he duly paid. As he sat in the café consuming his drink, he bit into the pastry and struck something hard, breaking a tooth. He examined the chewed remains and found a piece of metal that had somehow been lodged in the pastry.
This café accepts no responsibility or liability for any injury caused to customers by consumption of food or drink sold.
In response, Avinash exclaimed, ‘I’m a consumer and I have rights!’
Required: Explain how the contracts Avinash made with the café were formed.
- You will need to address all the essential elements of a contract (including consideration) as well as analyse the legal status of each step or event that led to the café supplying Avinash with its products. Refer to relevant case law. In this part, do not discuss the impact, if any, of consumer protection laws.
- You may, but are not obliged to use the IRAC format for this part, given that each step or event must be analysed separately.
Explain whether the café is legally entitled to rely on the clause printed on the ticket to avoid liability in relation to Avinash’s mishap.
- For the purposes of this part you should consider both common law as well as consumer protection legislation (confirming whether Avinash qualifies as a ‘consumer’).
- Please use IRAC format for this part.
Answer
Part A
Issues
a. The establishment of contracts between the café and Avinash at each stage of their interactions. an assessment of whether all contract requirements are present.
b. The feature of taking these into account and identifying them in light of recent transactions.
Rules: Contracts are said to exist when agreements result in legally enforceable obligations. Therefore, an agreement that cannot be enforced in court is not a contract. According to the common law system, the fundamental components of a contract are obtained from judicial interpretations of the same that are issued as judgments. The common law system is incorporated into the Australian Commonwealth, and it is subject to judicial decisions and interpretations of that system. The initial requirement of a contract, according to the common law system covered in this common law assignment, is an offer. An offer is a clear declaration of intent to enter into a contract. On the other hand, an invitation to treat is only a forerunner to an offer and is not a legitimate offer. The acceptance is the second requirement. A contract cannot be created until the offer is accepted and communicated. The original offer, however, is revoked and the opportunity to accept it is lost if the terms are altered or a counteroffer is made. This was taken into account in the judicial interpretation of the same that was established in the Hyde v. Wrench1 decision. The second requirement for a contract to be enforceable derives from the parties' purpose to establish a binding legal relationship. According to the ruling in the case Balfour v. Balfour2, agreements signed between family members would be assumed to lack such an aim. Consideration, which will also be covered below, is the last factor to evaluate when determining whether a contract is legitimate.
