Appointment via WhatsApp just as legally valid

Farmers are avid Appers. They are in a WhatsApp group with the neighbors on the road, with farmers who undertake the same activities and with acquaintances they talk about all kinds of agri things. It is therefore good to realize that appointments via WhatsApp are just as legally valid as any other appointment.

Although it seems very accessible and informal, communicating via WhatsApp can have far-reaching consequences. Contract law lawyer Annelieke Fenstra of LegalMatters.com in Amsterdam points to this. What many are not aware of is that agreements made via WhatsApp are also legally valid. This means that the parties are bound by it.

An agreement is concluded when an offer is accepted. In principle, there is no formal requirement for a legally valid agreement. As a result, an agreement can be entered into in any form; orally, in writing or tacitly. For example, consider a gesture such as raising a hand at an auction.

"This means that when you accept an offer from someone else via WhatsApp or make an appointment via WhatsApp, you are in principle stuck with it," says Fenstra. 'The other party can then force, if necessary through the court, that you keep to the agreement made. This does not apply to agreements where the law does impose a formal requirement. For example, the purchase of a home must always be done through a written purchase agreement.'

Judges in the Netherlands increasingly assign evidential value to WhatsApp messages. For example, the Amsterdam District Court ruled in 2015 that a notice of dismissal via WhatsApp may be seen as a legally valid notice. In that case, in particular because the employee had responded to the dismissal announcement via WhatsApp. This made it possible to prove that the notice of dismissal had reached the employee.

In order to prove that the parties have made an agreement, it is important that it can be demonstrated that an offer has been accepted or that the agreement has been confirmed. This is virtually impossible with verbal agreements. Fenstra: 'If you take a party to court without proof of an agreement made, you are left empty-handed. After all, it becomes your word against that of the opposing team. And a judge can do little with that.'

Unlike verbal agreements, a WhatsApp message quickly has probative value because the communication is of course black and white. 'Due to the simplicity of WhatsApp, you may make commitments that are legally enforceable without you noticing it immediately. And that also applies to other social media, by the way.' Therefore, think carefully about what you communicate via WhatsApp, she says. "Before you know it, you're stuck with something and there's no going back."

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