Английский язык для юристов. Предпринимательское право

When the parties are not in pari delicto, relief will often be allowed if sought by the more innocent of the two. Although this rule is not applicable when one party may be less guilty of premeditation (plotting or planning an illegal act) and intent to achieve a gain through known illegal acts, it may be applied when one party is unaware that a law is being broken and has no intent to do a wrong.

Exercise 1. Comprehension questions:

1. What is the most obvious type of illegal contract?

2. Explain the term usury.

3. What has been done to protect borrowers from excessive interest charges?

4. What are the objectives of licensing?

5. What does the term in pari delicto mean?

6. What does the exculpatory clause state?

7. What may be the consequences of illegal contracting?

Exercise 2. Find in the text English equivalents to the following:

Сговор; оправдывающее положение; равная вина; публичный порядок; ограничение свободы торговли; ростовщичество.

Exercise 3. Consult recommended dictionaries and give words or phrases to the following definitions:

Оспоримая сделка; притворная сделка; мнимая сделка; последствия недействительных сделок; двусторонняя реституция; сделка совершенная под влиянием заблуждения; сделка совершенная под влиянием обмана; сделка совершенная под влиянием угрозы; ограничение полномочий на совершение сделки; выход за пределы ограничений; пределы правоспособности; цель деятельности юридического лица; лицензия организации; недействительность по иску.

Exercise 4. Be ready to talk on one of the following topics:

1. Distinguish between licenses designed to raise revenue and those designed to provide supervision and regulation of a business or profession.

2. Determine the legal effect of a contract made by parties who are not licensed in a particular business or profession.

3. Describe when the courts might consider an agreement unconscionable and indicate how a party might defeat a claim of unconscionability.

4. Explain the legal principle of public policy and note how the courts usually treat agreements found contrary to public policy.

5. Distinguish between the application and effect of in pari delicto when an illegal contract is entire and indivisible and when it is divisible.

Exercise 5. Make up your own dialog on the case: In Toker v. Westerman, the defendant had purchased a refrigerator-freezer for a cash price of $899.98. The total price including interest, insurance, etc. was $1,299.76. At trial, an appliance dealer had testified that the freezer in question was known in the trade as a «stripped unit» and that a reasonable price at the time of the sale would have been between $350.00 and $400.00. The holding of the court rests exclusively on excessiveness of the price, and it reads as follows:

Suffice it to say that in the instant case the court finds as shocking and therefore unconscionable, the sale of goods for approximately two and one-half times their reasonable retail value. This is particular so where, as here, the sale was made by a door-to-door salesman for a dealer who therefore would have less overhead expense than a dealer maintaining a store or showroom.

Unit 8 Form of the Agreement Формы договоров

Сделки совершаются устно или в письменной форме (простой или нотариальной) (статьи 161, 162, 163, глава 27 ГК РФ). Сделка в письменной форме должна быть совершена путем составления документа, выражающего ее содержание и подписанного лицом или лицами, совершающими сделку, или должным образом уполномоченными ими лицами. Сделки юридических лиц между собой и с гражданами (в том числе, требующие нотариального удостоверения), за исключением сделок, которые могут быть совершены устно, а также сделки на сумму, превышающую не менее чем в 10 раз установленный законом минимальный размер оплаты труда, а также в случаях, предусмотренных законами, независимо от суммы, а именно: учредительные договоры, уставы, сделки связанные с продажей доли в праве собственности, соглашения о неустойке, залоге, поручительстве, и т. д., должны заключаться в письменной форме. При любой форме и содержании договор должен обязательно иметь существенные условия: предмет договора, условия, существенные для договоров данного вида, а также условия, относительно которых по заявлению одной из сторон должно быть достигнуто соглашение, например, цена договора, порядок расчетов, и др.

List of key terms and word combinations:

– acknowledgment – признание, подтверждение (например, получения документа)

– best evidence rule – требование представления наилучших (первичных, подлинных) доказательств

– condition precedent – предварительное условие

– equal dignities rule – правило равного достоинства (акцепт должен быть осуществлен с помощью тех же самых средств, которые были использованы для производства оферты)

– equitable estoppel – лишение стороны права возражения по причине ее предшествующего поведения

– memorandum – памятная записка, меморандум, запись

– parol evidence rule – правило, исключающее устные доказательства, изменяющие или дополняющие письменное соглашение

– part performance – частичное исполнение

Some of the agreements are written, some are oral, and some are implied. The validity of the contracts did not always depend on their being in writing. It would be correct, therefore, to conclude that many contracts do not have to be in writing to be enforceable. In fact, the vast majority of contracts that are entered into every day are oral. Sometimes, of course, it is desirable to reduce a contract to writing so that the terms are clear to all parties. However, a writing is not usually required. There is a law requiring certain contracts to be in writing to be enforceable.

According to laws applicable in most jurisdictions today, six types of contracts must be in writing to be enforceable:

• contracts not to be completed within one year,

• contracts for the sale of land,

• contracts for the sale of goods of a curtain sum or more,

• contracts of executors and administrators,

• a guaranty of debts or wrongdoing of another, and

• contracts in consideration of marriage.

Just what is meant when the statute states that «the agreement must be in writing*? The writing should be intelligible. It may be embodied in letters, memos, telegrams, invoices, and purchase orders sent between the parties. It may be written on any surface suitable for the purpose of recording the intention of the parties, as long as all the required elements are present.

To be absolutely complete, a written agreement, or memorandum, as it is often called, should contain the following elements:

• terms of the agreement,

• identification of the subject matter,

• statement of the consideration promised,

• names and identities of the persons to be obligated, and

• the signature of the party sought to be bound to the agreement.