The judgment in Beadica 231 CC and Others v Trustees for the time being of Oregon Trust and Others (CCT109/2019) serves as an important turning-point in our law around contracts and specifically the freedom of persons to enter into any contract on terms to which the parties agree.
A company can be liquidated regardless of whether it is solvent or insolvent. If a company is insolvent, it is unable to satisfy its debts as and when they come due (this is referred to [...]
We are all accustomed to using debit orders for various reasons, for example: Netflix fees, gym memberships, internet monthly usage and store credit accounts. It is important to consider whether the instructions we provide for [...]
The precise mechanism, governing to whom and in what proportions shares in a private company should be sold when a shareholder is no longer going to hold shares, is important for all shareholders to be satisfied with. This could occur for any number of reasons, such as simply wishing no longer to be involved in the company, to death of a shareholder.
The purpose of BR in terms of the Act is thus to give ailing companies a chance to return to trading on a solvent basis or alternatively, to maximise the returns of the creditors and stakeholders of the company. This happens by restructuring the entity, under the control of a Business Rescue Practitioner (“BRP”) and subject to the approval and participation of its creditors.
When we have any documentation commissioned, we essentially swear, by providing proper identification, before someone who has the authority to administer an oath (such as a police official, an attorney, a charted accountant, etc.), that we understand the content of the documentation and find it binding on our conscience. The commissioner confirms this by placing his/her signature and stamp. Usually this is a process done face to face but with these unprecedented times of living in lockdown and trying to reduce the spread of infection, it may be wise to consider alternative means of commissioning.
The devil is in the detail and a very short agreement which is light on the intricacies of the relationship between contracting parties can lead to costly litigation down the line if the relationship between the parties breaks down.
Lockdown’s impacts on a wide array of contracts.
Irrespective that this judgement deals with a transaction between group companies that is now specifically provided for by Section 22(3A) of the VAT Act, it remains that the principles may be applied to transactions between non-group companies or other parties that enter into these types of transactions, or make payments of consideration, on loan account.
Disputes over ownership of software often cross my desk. The story is almost invariably the same: someone has paid a software developer to write code, and there is no written agreement dealing with who owns that code. Then the developer decides that he owns the code and won’t hand over the source code.