Introduction to Law and Legal Functions

Rules and Sources of Law

• A set of rules governing relationships between persons
• Laws made by Parliament (Acts) - Law of Contract Act/Law of Marriage Act
• By-Laws
• Laws made by the people themselves to regulate their relationships - Contract
• A set of rules recognized as giving certain rights to certain persons and imposing certain obligations on certain persons - Tort

Functions of Law

• Structuring of public power - Constitutional law
• Facilitating and regulating private relations - contract, property, marriage, etc.
• Resolving conflicts - the state through law may set up institutions, e.g. courts, tribunals to resolve disputes

Branches of Law

• Municipal law (within a state)
• Public law - concerned with enforcement of a code of conduct upon the citizens
• Criminal law - criminalizes and punishes certain acts and omissions
• Constitutional law - regulates relationship between citizens and state organs
• Administrative law - confers powers on officials
• Regulatory law, e.g. Company law - oversees certain private relations

Acceptance in Contract Law

• Acceptance is defined as an assent to the proposal by the person to whom it was made
• Acceptance must be firm and final: The signification of acceptance must be a firm and final expression of assent to the terms of the proposal as communicated by the offeror/proposer
• Conditional acceptance: An acceptance must be absolute and unconditional
• One form of conditional assent is an acceptance “subject to contract”

Consideration in Contract Law

• Consideration is an important ingredient in all contracts which are not made under seal
• Consideration is defined as: “Some right, interest, profit or benefit accruing to the one party, or some forbearance, detriment, loss or responsibility given, suffered or undertaken by the other”
• Consideration comprises of both positives or negatives to a party
• Payment of money is a common form of consideration

Privity of Contract

• In Tanzania, the Law of Contract Act is silent on the principle of privity of contract
• S.2 (1) (d) permits a 3rd person to furnish consideration but doesn’t allow him to sue on the contract on the ground that although he furnished consideration he is not a party to a contract

Representations and Terms

• Representations: These are statements which merely induce a party to enter into a contract
• Terms: These are part of the contract itself and make up its contents
• Tests to distinguish a term from a representation:
  • Intention of the parties
  • Statement is likely to be a term if it is made with intention of preventing the other party from finding any defects and succeeds in doing so
  • If the statement is such that the aggrieved party would not have made the contract without it, then the statement will be a term of the contract
  • The statement made during preliminary negotiations tend to be pre-contractual