unilateral contract in the english law/ an analytical comparative study with the iraqi civil law

The unilateral contract in the English law is considered as a unilateral undertaking, the offer of which takes the form of a single promise to pay a sum of money by the promissor or the offeror, in return for the performance of the stipulated act or the forbearance by the promisee or the offeree. So that the performance of the act or the forbearance is considered as an indication of assent or consent by which the agreement will arise later. It is worth-bearing in mind that the English law distinguished between the agreement and the single promise considered as a unitary act. Therefore, no agreement will arise from the mere promise, because it emanates to the promise, who takes a negative or passive position. On the contrary to the agreement requiring active and positive participation between two or more parties, each of which is obliged to enforce contractual obligations arising from the contract. Whereas the concept of the unilateral contract in the English law is equal to the concept of the promise to reward in the Iraqi civil law No. (40) of 1951, considered as one of most conspicuous applications of the unilateral will, as an independent source of obligation in this law. And will not go in line with the concept of the unilateral contract in the Iraqi law, because of being considered as an agreement from the beginning, but it generates obligations on one of the parties only, without the other one.