120. Which of the following contracts cannot be ratified?

• A. Those where both parties are incapable of giving consent
• B. Unauthorised contracts
• C. Those whose cause or object did not exist at the time of the transaction
• D. Those that fail to comply with Statute of Frauds

Answer: (C)

Ratification validates a contract by affirming it after the fact, but it only makes sense if there is a real subject matter and a possible performance at the time the contract was formed. If the cause or object of the contract did not exist when the transaction happened, there is nothing for the parties to bind, and nothing to ratify. No later consent can conjure up an object or purpose that never existed, so that type of contract cannot be ratified.

The other scenarios can involve ratification in some form: contracts where consent was initially defective can become binding if valid consent is given later; unauthorised acts can be approved by the principal to become enforceable; and some contracts not meeting formal requirements can still be ratified to achieve enforceability. But when the object itself doesn’t exist, ratification isn’t possible.