Question One: Bounty Hunting and Significance of Legality in Contract Formation and Enforcement
A bounty hunter works as a bail enforcer and tracks a fugitive by looking for and apprehending persons accused of crimes that can be bailed who do not show up for the trial. Bounty hunters and bail bondsmen work together as agents in tracking fugitives to guarantee that the accused person appears for trial.
Bails bondsmen provide service to the accused person by paying their bill by way of contract as a promise that they would appear before court for trial. Bounty hunters come in handy to ensure that the bondsmen are repaid by capturing bail jumpers who breach their contracts. Bounty hunting is part of the current American justice system with bounty hunters working together with bail bondsmen detaining over 90% of bail jumpers in the United States of America.
The bail hunter receives between 10 and 20 percent of the bail for each fugitive captured (Watson, 2014). Bail bondsmen and bounty hunters follow standardized procedures to guarantee successful arrest. The procedures that they use are similar to those of private detectives such as skip tracing. States have put in place regulations that govern what bounty hunters can do and what they cannot do. Some states do not allow bounty hunters to cross state lines. Laws and licensing procedures differ from one state to another in USA (How to Become a Bounty Hunter, 2012). The legality of bounty hunting, therefore, depends on the laws of the country where the bounty hunter is working in.
A court of law will not enforce a contract if the subject matter in the contract is illegal or is not in line with public policy. An example of such a contract is a contract dealing with a crime because the contract aims at achieving an illegal end. A contract that any rational person cannot sign or any fair or honest person would not accept cannot be enforced by a court of law.
The persons signing any contract must have the capacity to contract such people should not be intoxicated with drugs, mentally ill, under pressure to sign the contract or under pressure from external forces meaning they are not in a position to demonstrate their own free will. Therefore, any contract should be meet all the legal requirements for the contract to be binding and to guarantee enforcement by the court of law.
Question Two: Contract between Eddie and Jack
A contract is an agreement between two or more parties that creates obligation on all parties to perform (or not perform) a given action or a set or related actions. Contract law determines the enforceability of a contract and provides solutions when contracts are breached. A contract exists after the parties involved reach a shared agreement. A legally enforceable contract must have an offer where one has to do something or refrain from doing something in the future on condition that the other party will do something or promise something in return.
There has to be an expression of assent that is conditional, unequivocal and goes legally communication. There should be consideration in whose absence the parties may not implement the agreement. A consideration is something of value or something bargained for in exchange for a promise. The person(s) signing the contract must the capacity to sign the contract; minors, insane people, and mentally ill people have limited capacity.
The contract should conform to all legalities because the law cannot enforce contracts that lack legality. The contract should enjoy genuine consent from all parties. A contract that lacks real consent is void or voidable but depends on the circumstances. The last element in a contract is writing that is needed in some contracts such as contracts on sale of lands. Written contracts are evidence to agreements.
A contract must meet all the elements of a contract otherwise; the contract shall be rendered void. The contract must be on a legal subject matter and with a legally sane person. A minor should not sign the contract because a minor can void a contract. An agreement should be arrived at with a person who is not under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The contract should comply with all the applicable federal and state laws to hold.
The contract between Eddie and Jack conform to the legal element of a contract because bounty hunting is legal. There is consideration where Eddie offers a sum of 50 grand to Jack in return of arresting Jonathon Mardukis. Negotiations take place where Jack insists he can only take 100 grand.
There is genuine consent between the two parties because they both insist on their offers with Eddie stating that Jack was even worse than Mardukis. It is not clear whether Eddie agrees to write down the contract. The counter offer by Jack is 100 thousand in exchange for his promise to bring the Duke before Friday night. Both Eddie and Jack have the capacity to negotiate for the contract though they do not reach an agreement. Therefore, since the contract lacks very essential elements of a contract the contract between Eddie and Jack is void.
Question Three: Written Contract
Contracts do not have to be written to be enforceable but written contracts serve as evidence of the agreement reached. However, some contracts require writing; such contracts include contracts that cannot be fulfilled within one year and promise to pay someone else’s debt. One other contract that should be written is a promise of consideration of marriage. The written contract must include all the material terms of the contract, the names of the involved parties, consideration, and subject matter in the contract.
Written contracts should be signed by all parties for the contract to be binding. Written contracts overrules the use of verbal evidence incase such evidence goes against the written terms and the verbal evidence cannot change the terms in the written contract. Nevertheless, the oral evidence is useful when the written contract is indistinct, incomplete or it is misinterpreted. Written contracts reduce or totally eliminate confusion and are preferred to assure that the interests of the parties are protected.
One major problem with oral contracts is that they may be hard to prove thereby presenting a difficulty in enforcement. To avoid such a scenario, it is always good to write down the contract. Further, it is difficult to remember an oral contract word by word. Incase some problems occur in the process of enforcing a contract; reconciling the parties involved in the contract is almost impossible without any written evidence.
The only reliable evidence to an agreement is writing. Jack demanded a written contract from Eddie, therefore the first term of the contract was writing. Failure to write the contract would make the contract void. In addition, without writing the contract it would mean that there was no agreement between Eddie and Jack. The contract would not be binding to Jack since his promise was pegged to Eddie agreeing to write down the contract between them.
References
How to become a Bounty Hunter (2012). What is a Bounty Hunter. Retrieved on 12 April, 2014 from http://www.howtobecomeabountyhunter.com/what-is-a-bounty-hunter/
Watson, S. (2014). How Bounty Hunting Works. Retrieved on 12 April, 2014 from http://people.howstuffworks.com/bounty-hunting.htm