http://www.gazettebw.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6174:contract-of-lease&catid=21:columns&Itemid=2

i came upon this article on one form of contract that many of us are involved in at one point in the life, "the contract of lease" many things can be leased including cars and houses. A lease is a contract between two parties giving rise to reciprocal obligations, the lessor (landlord) on the one hand, having to avail to the lessee (tenant) the property or thing to be leased for a particular period of time in exchange for rent or payment instances. a lease is different from sale as in the case of a lease ownership is not permanently transfered but temporary.

Income tax

Well, the month of April is one that most people get headache as it the month each an every citizen as well as residents have to file for tax, in this case income tax. first of all what is tax?

tax is a sum of money paid by the citizens to the government on the income or value of purchases of certain specific goods and services. the idea is to help the government raise some money to undertake development projects as well as to meet government expenditure. in the case of income tax, not every person pays the some amount as there are different categories for chargeable income depending on how much you get as income and you expenses.In general, a taxpayer is required to pay tax on all kind of earnings, including incomes from:

1. Business or profession
2. Employment
3. Dividends
4. Interest
5. Discounts
6. Rent
7. Royalties
8. Premiums
9. Pensions
10. Annuities
11. Others

http://www.hasil.gov.my/lhdnv3e/individuIndex.jsp?process=21000&menu=13&expandable=1

Duty to Act bona fide in the interest of the company

This simply implies that directors must at all times act in good faith in all matters relating to the company. What ever contracts they undertake their pupose shoud be to benefit the company and no one else, the director must ensure that his actions are consistent with the well being of the company's.

A case of Insurable Interest

http://www.deneysreitz.co.za/index.php/news/insurable_interest/

Brightside Enterprises (Pvt) Ltd v Zimnat Insurance Co Ltd 2003 (1) SA 318 (ZHC)

The judge in this case difenes insurable interest as not only arising from owenership of something in whole or part, but also from a relation to the thing. so in the case of Brightside Enterprises (Pvt) Ltd the judge concluded that since the employee of the petrol station was driving the vehicle to be repaired and obliged to do so he had an insurable interest in the vehicle.

Caveat emptor.

Latin phrase meaning " buyer beware". The rule implies that the buyer cannot assume that his/her purchase will be exactly as hoped or promised, hence the buyer alone is responsible for assessing the quality of a purchase before buying.

The rule basically encourage consumers to be on the look out for fraudulent transactions and be vigilant on buying any product.

http://www.answers.com/topic/caveat-emptor

cancellation of contract

Written by BATSHO NTHOI

WEDNESDAY, 03 MARCH 2010 00:00

When one party to a contract breaches the terms thereof or repudiates the contract, the innocent party may insist on his or her rights under the contract or accept the breach or repudiation and cancel the contract. The innocent party may simply send a notice to the other party declaring the contract between the parties cancelled or may further proceed to court and obtain an order of cancellation. What is apparent is that the innocent party at the point of a breach or repudiation is presented with a choice, either to cancel and claim damages or keep the contract and enforce it. It is important that the innocent party makes the election as to which remedy he or she intends to pursue. This is because if the innocent party behaves in any particular manner to the defaulting party, an impression maybe created. For example, the defaulting party may claim that it has been made to believe that the breach has been condoned. In this instance, the innocent party may find himself contending with a defence of estoppel, that is not being allowed to pursue a particular remedy because the other party would be claiming they have been led to believe that the innocent party has abandoned the claim due to condonation (or forgiveness). However, the onus is on the defaulting party to prove that the innocent party has waived his/her rights somehow. It is important that the election be exercised in a reasonable time, lest the defaulting party takes certain action which may make the exercise of a particular election, by the innocent party difficult to enforce. When an innocent party has chosen to cancel the contract, this will be followed by a claim for damages. It is apt to note that the damages that are claimed under a breach of contract are limited to damages caused by the breach. So it must be shown that the alleged breach was the cause of the loss. A claim for damages is not to enrich the innocent party, but rather to place him/her in the position he/she would have been in, if the contract had been properly performed, so far as that can be done by the payment of money, and without undue hardship to the defaulting party. So, the law does not permit that one should recover expenditure against the defaulting party, that he would not have recovered even if the contract had been performed. Christie, in his book: The Law of Contract in South Africa does state that “when normal contractual damages are claimed, in endeavouring to place the plaintiff in the position he/she would have occupied had the contract been performed, the courts are concerned exclusively with his/her financial position and take no account of his injured feelings or, to put it another way, he is entitled to damages for patrimonial but not sentimental loss”. In a claim for damages the innocent party has the responsibility of proving the amount of damages he or she has suffered as a result of the breach. The law does not however grant a blank cheque to the innocent party to just wait for the other party to pay for damages. The innocent party must mitigate any losses, nothing extraordinary is expected, but rather, to take appropriate steps to avoid the loss escalating. Further the law also investigates to see whether the claim for other damages is not too remote – that is, are far-fetched and do not arise naturally from the breach. If they are, there are not claimable.

contract of sale

Contract of Sale

Written by BATSHO NTHOI

WEDNESDAY, 10 MARCH 2010 00:00

In every day life, there are some contracts that are concluded more often than others, and the contract of sale is the commonest. It is virtually impossible to live or carry on any kind of business without either buying or selling goods from time to time. What then is a contract of sale? A contract of sale may be defined as a contract in which one person known as the seller undertakes to deliver a thing (merx) to another party known as the buyer, the latter agreeing to pay a certain price (pretium). What is therefore critical is that the seller and the buyer reach a consensus regarding the nature of the contract, the thing sold and the purchase price, before a contract of sale comes into existence. It is important that there must be an agreement as to the thing to be sold (the merx). It must either be in existence, definite or ascertainable. To create a binding contract the subject matter of the contract must not be vague. What can be sold? As a general rule, anything can be sold, provided that it can form part of one’s patrimony, that is, it can be owned by someone. Goods that are not yet in existence can also be sold. For example if the seller expects to have bags of sorghum in the future , this can be sold and he can receive the payment today although the grains will be available in six months. You can also buy a car that is yet to be manufactured. So the merx, can be movable, immovable goods, or may even be incorporeal things such as patents and copy rights. However, no contract will come into existence where the law prohibits the sale of the merx, for example the sale of marijuana. Where both the buyer and the seller know that the object sold does not belong to the seller and that the seller is not entitled to sell the object, such as a stolen thing, the sale is null and void. There can be no valid contract of sale unless the parties have agreed, expressly or tacitly, upon a purchase price. The parties to a contract of sale must therefore either agree on the price from the onset or stipulate a price per unit or determine a method by which the purchase price can be determined. They may agree that a specified third party will determine the price. A method of calculating the price may also be agreed to by the parties. The price must be certain and consist of money. A contract for the exchange of goods is one of barter, and not a contract of sale. Where a price is set by a third party and the seller or the buyer complains, that the price is manifestly too high or low, the contending party must provide evidence (in case it goes to court), of what a just determination would have been. A contract of sale creates a personal right for the buyer to enforce delivery by the seller. Until delivery, the buyer has no right in the article itself. Legal rights and duties arise from mere agreement to sell, for example, the duty to pay or deliver the thing. This has implication on transfer of ownership and passage of risk. For movable things ownership will be transferred upon delivery, whereas for immovable especially sale of landed property, the requirements of the Deeds Registry Act have to be complied with for ownership to be effected. The issue of risk shall be dealt with in due course. The intention of the parties to buy and sell must be clear. If the parties only create a pretence of sale, but in reality conclude another type of contract, the courts will not give effect to the pretence but rather to the true intention of the parties. The intention of the parties to a contract of sale is to deliver the rights of undisturbed use, enjoyment and disposal of the thing to the buyer, in other words, to enable the buyer to obtain ownership of the thing sold. Consequently, there can be no question of a contract of sale if there is a stipulation in the contract that ownership will not pass to the buyer.