QUESTION
Ali is a good friend of Malcolm. Malcolm needs money urgently to pay for the hospital where his son has been taken to intensive care and asks Ali. Ali is generous and pays the hospital bill after being requested to do so over the phone by Malcolm. A week later, Ali demands payment of the hospital bill from Malcolm, but he responds that Ali’s payment was clearly an act of charity as he is poor and has no money and there was never a loan contract between them.
You are asked to address the following questions
Is there a contract between Ali and Malcolm?
Let us assume that a contract exists. What remedies are available to Ali if Malcolm refuses to pay him back? Would your answer be the same if the hospital bill concerned an illegal operation involving a stolen kidney taken from a child in Tanzania?
