Law Of Contract Question Paper

Law Of Contract

Course:Bachelor Of Laws

Institution: Kenyatta University question papers

Exam Year:2009

KENYATTA UNIVERSITY
UNIVERSITY EXAMINATIONS 2008/2009
SECOND SEMESTER EXAMINATION FOR THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF LAW
LCC 100 THE LAW OF CONTRACT.
DATE: TUESDAY, 7TH APRIL 2009 TIME: 9.00 A.M. – 11.00 A.M.

INSTRUCTIONS: Answer three questions. Question one is compulsory.
1. Otieno is a medical intern at Kenyatta Hospital. His boss Dr. Kitheka is a consultant physician. One day, Dr. Kitheka suffers a heart attack while on duty. Otieno, a bright and decisive student, saves his boss’s life. Exhibiting remarkable composure under pressure for one so young, he quickly diagnoses the problem and administers emergency medical relief, in a dramatic scene resembling one of the medical series’ regularly seen on Kenyan television. Overwhelmed with gratitude, Dr. Kitheka promises him Kshs. 10, 000 per month for the rest of Otieno’s life.
As often happens in life, Dr. Kitheka sadly does not live up to his promise once the initial wave of gratitude has passed and normal life has resumed. Otieno does not seem to mind, and continues with his work as usual. Five years pass. In an unfortunate turn of events, Otieno’s mother is suddenly diagnosed with acute kidney failure, requiring expensive dialysis treatment. Otieno is suddenly in need of large sums of money to cover his mother’s treatment. He writes to Dr. Kitheka asking for payment of the monthly sum promised, as well as payment arrears going back 5 years. Dr. Kitheka writes back, refusing to pay.
a. Advise Otieno.
b. Does the doctrine of promissory estoppel have any bearing on this case?
c. Would it make any difference if Otieno’s mother rather than Otieno tried to recover the money from Dr. Kitheka?
(30 marks).

2. Muliro, a student at Kenyatta University Parklands Campus, is experiencing his own personal economic recession. He has exhausted all his money on campaigns for student elections and now has nothing left for daily subsistence (and he was not voted in). He lets it be known among Parklands’ students that he is selling his mobile phone among other personal items. “Whatever you want, we can discuss”, is a phrase he is often overheard using. Word spreads. One Monday, Miriam calls and asks how much he would like for the phone; after prolonged complaints about the uncertainty and unfairness of life, he says that ‘even 5, 000 would not be bad.’
On Tuesday, Miriam posts a letter in which she agrees to buy the phone at 5, 000, and says that if she has not heard from him in 7 days she will consider the phone to be hers.
On Friday, and before he receives the letter, Muliro sells the phone for Kshs. 7, 000 to a generous member of the teaching staff. He receives Miriam’s letter on the same day but never replies to it. Two weeks later he is then threatened with legal action by Miriam whose mother, a fearless Nairobi lawyer, has been known to intimidate even high ranking judicial officers.
d. Advise Muliro.
e. Would there any difference in your advice if Miriam had accepted by SMS?
(20 marks).
3. “To ascertain the intention of the parties the court reads the terms of the contract as a whole, giving the words used their natural and ordinary meaning in the context of the agreement, the parties’ relationship and all the relevant facts surrounding the transaction so far as known to the parties. To ascertain the parties’ intentions the court does not of course inquire into the parties’ subjective states of mind but makes an objective judgment based on the materials already identified”.
Discuss.
(20 marks)

4. “An agreement, though supported by consideration, is not binding as a contract if it was made without intention to create legal relations”
Discuss.
(20 marks)
5. “In order to constitute a valid contract, the parties must so express themselves that their meaning can be determined with a reasonable degree of certainty. It is plain that, unless this can be done, it would be impossible to hold that the contracting parties had the same intention”.
Discuss
(20 marks)

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