Boris Ignachkov Legal Principles and Key Points
- In the case of Felthouse v Bindley [1862] 11 CBNS 869, the Court of Common Pleas held that silence is not acceptance.
- This case concerns offer and acceptance of a contract related to the purchase of a horse.
- An offer can only be accepted if communicated.
Facts of the Case
- This case involved a family disagreement over the bargaining and trade of a horse.
- C’s nephew did not authorize C to sell the horse in an auction.
- D, auctioneer, did not withdraw a horse from the sale even though C’s nephew did not expressly consent to the horse being sold.
- The horse was sold to another party in the auction. C claimed tort of conversion against D.
- C’s tort claim could not go ahead until C proved in contract that there was an offer and acceptance made with C’s nephew to sell the horse and that the horse was C’s property.
Issues
- Whether the horse was C’s property at the time of sale.
- Whether C’s nephew accepted that offer.
Held by Court of Common Pleas
- Rule absolute – C claimed there was a contract with offer and acceptance with C’s nephew however this tort action regarding the horse trade was unsuccessful because the offer was not accepted.
Keating J
Acceptance of the offer
- It was an open offer. C’s nephew did not communicate intent to C. D did not unlawfully interfere with C’s property. The horse was not C’s property at the time of the sale and C did not have the right to give the horse to D.
- There was a proposal but no legally binding acceptance on C’s nephew’s behalf.
- “The property in the horse was not vested in the plaintiff at the time of the sale by the defendant”. [871]
Willes J
Subsequent correspondence
- There was no contract between C’s nephew and D. There was no communication between C and C’s nephew until after the auction occurred on the 25th of February.
- This case ruled contrary to the verbal acceptance in Stockdale v Dunlop [1840] 6 M & W 224. The letter and subsequent letters to the auctioneer are not perceived to be bargains or acceptance of previous offers.
- “It appears to me that, independently of the subsequent letters, there had been no bargain to pass the property in the horse to the plaintiff, and therefore that he had no right to complain of the sale.” [876]
Editor’s Notes
- An offer can be accepted by written consent, acceptance by performance and by electronic means. Digital communication makes it difficult to determine contract formation as well as when an offer is made and accepted.