Seal contract is also called contract contract or written contract. It refers to a contract that must be in written form, signed, sealed and formally delivered. This kind of joint service is mostly used for land transfer, mortgage and other transactions. According to Article 73 of 1925 Property Law, the contract must be signed by the parties who wish to be bound by it. According to common law practice, such contracts are generally signed without the presence of relevant witnesses; Seal mark or wax seal mark should be added; The service text is usually delivered by a special person or symbolically, that is, the addressee seals and declares, "I deliver this binding deed to you."

However, in modern practice, the formal requirements of contractual contracts are often not so strict. Both parties can usually sign and seal the contract before it takes effect: they can also sign the L. S circle printed on the document in advance without wax or sealing paper or seal. That is to say, it is deemed to meet the requirements of signature form and has full effect [1]. In principle, the house deed contract shall come into effect from the date when the transferor delivers the contract to the transferee. However, in the current practice, as long as the transferor has expressed that it is unconditionally bound by the contract, it should be regarded as delivery of the contract; Even if the contract has not been actually delivered, it is still in the hands of the transferor, and it is deemed that the contract has come into effect. However, some land lease contracts with conditions and deadlines can only be regarded as formal delivery and take effect when the conditions or deadlines are met, so they are also called conditional land lease contracts. During the period when the conditions attached to the deferred condition contract are not fulfilled, both parties shall not cancel the contract [2]; When the attached conditions are met, both parties are bound by the contract [3].

According to English law, sealed contracts must be concluded for the following transactions: (1) contractual acts without consideration (such as free gifts); (2) legal real estate transfer and lease of all land rights and interests for more than three years; (3) Transfer of British ships or their shares; (4) Articles of association of the registered company.

Seal contract has advantages and characteristics that simple contract does not have. First of all, even if there is no consideration in the sealed contract, it can be enforced, while if there is no consideration in the simple contract, it will not take effect; Secondly, the statute of limitations for sealed contracts is 12 years from the date of the cause of action, and for simple contracts it is 6 years (see the statute of limitations); Third, the sealed contract can replace and change the previous simple contract, making the latter disappear and leading to the merger of contracts; Finally, the principle of estoppel applies to sealed contracts. According to this principle, the parties shall not deny the truth of what he said in the house contract (that is, the prohibition of estoppel), unless they can prove the misconduct (such as fraud) of the other party in the conclusion of the contract.

Second, simple contracts.

Simple contract is the most common form of contract, and the most basic difference between it and sealed contract is that it must have consideration factors before it can take effect. Therefore, "simple contract" is the general name of contract types with consideration as the essential element, including written contract, oral contract and implied contract; However, it is a written contract that best embodies the characteristics of a simple contract, so we will focus on the written contract below.

(1) written contract

A written contract refers to a simple contract concluded in written form and proved by written materials; It can be further divided into two categories: one is a typical written contract, and the other is a simple contract based on written materials, also known as a written bill contract. According to English law, the following contract must be a typical written contract, otherwise it is invalid. (1) drafts, checks and promissory notes; (2) marine insurance contracts: (3) chattel mortgage securities; (4) The debtor who was exempted from liability due to the expiration of the limitation period was also in debt; (5) The installment contract, credit sale or conditional sale stipulated in the Rent-and-Purchase Law of1965 must also be in a typical written form, and signed by the buyer or other persons specified in the agreement, otherwise the seller cannot enforce it according to this requirement. In addition, the agreement stipulated in Article 6 1 of Consumer Credit Law 1974 (see Chapter 5, Section 6) should also be in a typical written form, except for implied clauses; (6) Under normal circumstances, an enterprise does not have to pay for its entry into the list of trade names and addresses, but if the registration and signing of the parties or their agents meet the requirements of the active loan supply and maintenance laws of 197 1 and 1975, a typical written form should also be adopted.