Abstract

The law of contract is different from all the other branches of law because the obligations made under an agreement are the creation of parties themselves and no one else. The technique of an agreement includes the presence of an offer at one side and its acceptance by the other side or by the other party. The ever increasing and the speedy commercial growth and the activities of mass production have contributed to the development of the standard form contracts, typically called adhesive contracts. No doubt that freedom of contracting is venerable and esteemed, but it is also quite tough and dangerous and a doctrine that is difficult to catch or understand in its totality. It is also a realization that mass productions, especially in today’s fast-growing world is impossible without the standardization of technology also requires standardization of mass contracts. But it is also true that the basic idea the law of contract lies in the freedom of contract and equality of bargaining power has been majorly hampered by the growth of the standard form contract. For our purpose, freedom of contract has two different meanings, i.e., the freedom to enter into an agreement and the freedom from interference with a contract once made. Many of the basic principles of modern law of contract were settled in the 18th century, when, in the time prevailed the Laissez-faire philosophy, it was though wrong to interfere with private agreements on such grounds. The present or the trend of the modern time is rather to stress over the abuses to which the principle of “freedom of contract” can be born, so that the principles can considerably be restricted, both by the legislation and by decisions of the judiciary. This paper aims to understand development of adhesion contracts from a historical perspective.

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