Contract law問題

The rule for acceptance by instantaneous communication is that acceptance is communicated at the instance the acceptance is received by the offeror. However, what the word "received" means in this sense is unclear. It can mean the acceptance being received but unread or it being received and read.

In The Brimnes [1975] QB 929, a notice sent by telex withdrawing a ship under a charterparty for late payment of hire was held to have been effective when received during office hours on 1 April even though it was not read until 2 April.

Therefore, it seems that acceptance is communicated even if the offeror merely receives the letter but does not read it.

Telex, fax, SMS and voice message are all instantaneous modes of communication and will probably be given the same treatment in law. A has actually received the fax, SMS and voice message but has not read them (since he erased them). However, according to my analysis above, acceptance has been validly communicated.

Therefore, there is a legally enforceable contract. A is not entitled to make the offer to others. A cannot say he is ignorant of the acceptance and escape legal liability.

In legal concept, ignorance does not equal to innocent. Therefore, A cannot avoid his legal liability by claiming himself ignorant of the replies from B.