A contract is a bilateral arrangement that establishes a legal relationship between the parties involved. An agreement is a voluntary agreement that is not subject to the law.
There can always be an agreement without a contract, but for a contract to be carried out there must always be an agreement.
Unlike the agreement, the contract seeks to create obligations that can be legally modified, transferred or terminated.
| Contract | Agreement | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | Consent between two or more parties involved, which must be legally framed to be finalized. | Agreement between the parties regarding an issue in a context that does not require legality. |
| Half | Written. | Oral or written. |
| Elements |
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| Legality | It is binding and is subject to legislation. | It does not create any kind of legal commitment. |
| Context | It is generally done in business and in the work environment. | It usually occurs in a social or family context and in the educational environment. |
| Validity | It must be mutually acceptable within the legal framework to be valid. | It only needs mutual acceptance to be valid. |
| Examples |
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Index
What is a contract?
The contract is an agreement with legal validity where the parties involved establish the rights and must comply with certain obligations.
For a contract to be carried out, it is not enough for the agreement to be verbal, it must be submitted in writing with the signature of those involved and be framed within the law for compliance.
For this reason of legality, it is said that all contracts are agreements, but not all agreements are contracts.
When one person makes an offer to another and they accept it, it must be expressed in writing and recorded as a legal commitment for the contract to exist.
Another fundamental aspect for the contract to be carried out is that the parties involved must be capable in legal terms of being able to participate in it. This means that they must have the mental capacity to understand the terms of the contract and be of legal age.
Types of contracts
In general terms, contracts could be classified into the following groups:
- Explicit : they describe in detail each of the terms used.
- Implicit : the terms are left to free interpretation because they are known by the parties involved.
- Bilateral : establish the obligations and rights of the bidder and the bidder.
- Unilateral : they only establish the obligations of one of the parties.
Contract example
Employment contract : the employer makes an offer to the worker where he requests his services in exchange for monetary remuneration. In this case, the written contract is drawn up where the obligations and rights of the parties are stipulated, such as working hours, salary, vacations, rest days, among other aspects.
What is an agreement?
An agreement is a pact or agreement of wills between two or more parties regarding a certain issue. This agreement can be reached verbally or in writing without requiring a legal framework.
When one person makes a proposal to another and the latter accepts it voluntarily, it can be said that an agreement has been reached between the parties.
The agreements are not determined by any law , which means that the conditions and context of this agreement is established entirely by the parties that participate in it.
Likewise, compliance with the agreement will depend directly on the disposition of the people involved.
The agreements can be given in all types of areas because it does not require the fulfillment of specific conditions to be carried out. For this reason, any agreement that is not subject to the law can be considered an agreement .
Types of agreement
Depending on the number of people participating in the agreement, this can be:
- Bilateral : those in which only two stakeholders participate.
- Plurilateral : where three or more parties participate.
In the educational field, the following types of agreement are usually carried out:
- Framework agreement : when the institutions involved agree to cooperate in certain areas, such as joint research, the exchange of educational material or the exchange of teachers and students.
- Specific agreement : the institutions reach an agreement to strengthen complementary areas by carrying out previously detailed specific activities that can be academic, scientific or administrative.
Agreement example
Collective agreement: this agreement is usually given in the workplace, it links the representatives of the workers with the employers of a specific sector or company in order to regulate the existing working conditions.
