Option To The Guilty Party example essay topic

906 words
Remedies for breach of contract Contrary to what most people might think, the solution for breach of contract is not designed to punish the guilty party, instead it is to protect and preserve the rights and reasonable expectations of the party seeking reimbursement. The purpose of the contract law is that in the event of one party not fulfilling their obligation towards the other party, the party harmed will be compensated for its losses. In most cases the standard solution for breach of contract is money reimbursement, however, in some special cases the court can assign the party to perform a specific performance or injunction. With money reimbursement the court will allow the harmed party to prove to the court the amount of money necessary to reimburse for the losses, in other words, to prove that the amount of money the harmed company is seeking will reflect the guilty company performing the contract. The innocent party has three available options to them, which include self-help remedies, judicial remedies and arbitration. Self-help remedies centre on lawful acts, which do not involve the option of referring to the court or arbitration.

The innocent party under the law may refuse to perform their obligations as stated in the contract until the other party is ready or already has performed its obligations. The solutions of termination and withholding performance are closely related to the seriousness of the breach. Other self-help remedies that the innocent party may use are: deposit penalty taken form the guilty party, set-off, lien, and enforcement of the security. In contracts that involve the sell of goods the innocent party has additional options of stoppage of transit and resale of goods.

Judicial Remedies is an option, which requires the parties to present their case before a court of expert jurisdiction. The options that are available are: to take action for damages, to sue for quantum meru it, to sue for specific performance or to sue for an injunction. In most cases the damages are given to compensate the innocent (injured) party if its expectations have not been meet or if there is a loss of bargain. The award for damages is a substitute remedy, which in common law is reflected by the monetary approach. Common law gives the option to the guilty party to either fulfil the contract or to pay the damages.

The Equity law additionally gives the option of granting of specific performance and injunctions to restrain and actual or threatened breach of a negative stipulation. The plaintiff under the common law has the right to exercise the option, the court has an obligation to grant the party relief and therefore in a case of breach of contract the innocent party has to be awarded damages. With the use of equity law the remedies are flexible, the court has to decide whether the plaintiff's rights to damages are sufficient enough. If the innocent party has been guilty of delay in seeking the remedies, it can be refused the reimbursement.

Under the specific performance the courts have the option of forcing a guilty party to perform its obligation. This option is exercised in the relation to contracts for sale of buildings or land. Another option in the court of equity is an injunction, which is an order of the court restraining a person from doing some act. When the contract is negative in its nature or it contains a negative condition breach of it may be controlled by injunction.

When Damages, occur the innocent party has the right to present the case in front of the judge and ask for compensation. The amount of the award to the injured party is the value of the contract, however its not only the expenses caused by the breach, but also the loss of bargain. In the cease of the plaintiff being unable to establish actual monetary figure, he is entitled to nominal damages. Additionally damages can be given to the party not only for monetary losses but also for injury, pain, suffering, inconvenience or mental distress. The measure of damages is the official computation of the recoverable loss, however, there are some points that cannot be overlooked when calculating the reward. First, the plaintiff has to do everything in his power (within reason) to avoid the loss.

Second, if the plaintiff avoids or reduces his loss, he cannot recover the losses that were caused by the guilty party. Third, when the plaintiff takes extra steps to avoid the loss, they may recover this loss from the defendant. Penalties and liquidated damages, occurs when parties agree in their contract about a specific payment in cease of breach of contract or some specific method of calculating the payment. In cease of penalty the money is not recoverable, however, in cease of liquidated damages the money is recoverable. This is done mainly to avoid the complications in assessing the damages and its monetary value. Limitation of actions period is as follows: if it is a simple contract, the period is six years.

If actions are base upon a deed, the period is twelve years after the action. For personal injuries, the period is three years but the court has the right to extend that period.