The law of contract is that branch of the law which lays down basic general principles to be observed by the parties entering into contract and determines the circumstances in which a promise shall be legally binding on the person making it.
The principal characteristic of the law of contract is the principle of party autonomy, wherein it is for the parties to determine the terms and nature of an agreement and the function of the Court is to ascertain and to give effect to the rights and obligations to which the parties have agreed upon.
Since the consent of parties is sine qua non of every contract,1 there is lesser chance contract leading dispute, unless the consent is not a free consent.2 This situation often exists in Standard Form of Contract.
