The Latin principle of caveat emptor literally meaning let the buyer beware, has been followed for many years by the English courts in the context of business transactions. Pre the industrial revolution the action for breach of contractual rights needed a written warranty otherwise action could only be brought on the grounds of fraud. The reasoning for such action was based on the manner in which business was conducted, that is, namely at small fairs where buyers could inspect the goods and haggle accordingly. This is evidenced in cases such as Chandelor v Lopus in which a plaintiff brought an action against the defendant in relation to a Bezoar stone which was thought to have medicinal properties. In this instance, the majority of the court ruled that in the absence of a written warranty the defendant could be not liable however, the period surrounding and following the industrial revolution saw a change in how sellers conducted their business, as a result the courts and law makers began to recognise the need for non-written warranties to be upheld and the obligations thereby placed on sellers in relation to the quality of their goods. The culminative effect of which was the introduction of the Sale of Goods Act 1893. It was the introduction of this legislation and the subsequent Sale of Goods Act 1979 which was modified to bring the legislation in line with modern consumerism that purports to have brought to an end the principle of caveat emptor. In particular the implied terms stipulated in sections 12-15 of the Sale of Goods Act 1979, which are labelled as either conditions or warranties. The effect of a breach of a condition will allow the innocent party to repudiate the contract, whereas a breach of warranty will give rise ... ... middle of paper ... ...ne v General Guarantee Corporation [1988[ 1 ALL ER 911 Stevenson v Rodgers [1999] 1 ALL ER 613 Legislation: Sale and Supply of Goods Act 1994 Sale of Goods Act 1979, Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977, s6 Directives: Council Directive 1999/44/EC of the 25 May 1999 on certain aspects of the sale of consumer goods and associated guarantees Law Reports: Law Commission, Sale and Supply of Goods (Law Com No 160 1987) Articles: Cynthia Hawes, ‘Agents and Consumer Guarantees’ (1995) 6 Canterbury Law Review 164 Frank Cavico, ‘Fraudulent, Negligent, and Innocent Misrepresentation in Employment Context: The Deceitful, Careless, and Thoughtless Employer (1997) 20 Campbell Law Review 1 Books: Atiyah P, Adams J and MacQueen H, Sale of Goods (12th edn , Longman 2010) 145 Scott C and Black J, Cranston’s Consumers and the Law (3rd London Butterworths, 2000) 17
...nd Services Act 1973 (TAS), Fair Trading Act 1999 (VIC), Fair Trading Act 1987 (NSW), Fair Trading Act 1989 (Qld), Fair Trading Act 1987 (SA), Consumer Transactions Act 1972 (SA), Manufacturer’s Warranty Act 1974, Fair Trading Act 1987 (WA), Consumer Affairs Act 1971 (WA), Door to Door Trading Act 1987 (WA), Consumer is
As regulations keep changing, it is important to note that consumer guarantees are only applicable for goods and services purchased on or after 1st January 2011. The laws that applied before 1st January 2011 might cover any purchases made before this time.
To widen the market and to narrow the competition is always the interest of the dealers... The proposal of any new law or regulation of commerce which comes from this order, ought always to be listened to with great precaution, and ought never to be adopted, till after having been long and carefully examined, not only with the most scrupulous, but with the most suspicious attention. It comes from an order of men, whose interest is never exactly the same with that of the public, who have generally an interest to deceive and even to opprress the public, and who accordingly have, upon many occasions, both deceived and oppressed it.
The role of law reform has responded rather effectively to a certain extent in protecting the rights of consumers. This is evident in the legal responses introduced to address issues of credit, marketing innovation and technology. These law amendments has effectively increase the protection of the rights of consumers to a certain extent, however loopholes still exist. Due to the increasing range of goods and services continues to grow and the failure of existing laws, the role of law reform has been significant in protecting the rights of consumers. Consumer laws were created to prevent deceitful activities, or unfair business practices, as well as serving a protection for weaker parties who are unable to protect themselves. However, laws were later reformed to enable customers to transact with confidence and protect suppliers, consumers from inappropriate business conduct and to reflect changed community values and circumstances.
It is commonly accepted that an estoppel is a legal doctrine which prevents a person from negating or claiming a fact due to that person’s prior conduct. The doctrine of estoppel has been applied for years and different forms of estoppel have been established. For the purpose of this essay, I will predominantly concentrate on promissory estoppel in relation to the law of contracts. This essay will be approached by discussing the issues of pre-contractual liability, consideration, reliance and the doctrine as a cause of action or defence and a slight comparison of the standpoints that various jurisdictions hold towards these issues. These arguments would conclude the uncertainty of the doctrine and thus, the difficulty and issues that would be faced with the codification of the estoppel.
This concludes my summary of lessons gleaned from the course BSL 301 Legal Research, Writing, and Analysis referencing Honigberg, G. "Gilbert Law Summaries: Legal Research, Writing, and Analysis" 10th ed. BarBri Group, 2006.
The law of contract in many legal systems requires that parties should act in good faith. English law refuses to impose such a general doctrine of good faith in the field of contract law. However, despite not recognizing the principle, English contract law is still influenced by notions of good faith. As Lord Bingham affirmed, the law has developed numerous piecemeal solutions in response to problems of unfairness. This essay will seek to examine the current and future state of good faith in English contract law.
Miller, R. L., & Hollowell, W. E. (2011). Business Law: Text & Exercises 6th Edition. In R. L. Miller, & W. E. Hollowell, Business Law: Text & Exercises 6th Edition (pp. 22-23). Mason: South-Western Cengage Learning.
This article focuses on two different approaches of deception: withholding information versus distorting information, and how that may or may not change employees’ perception of the deceiver (Dunleavy, p.239). Dunleavy defines deception as “the conscious attempt to create or perpetuate false impressions among other communicators” (Dunleavy, p.240). Three hypotheses’ are presented in the article...
[4] Colin Drury, Management and Costing Accounting, (7th edition), Chapter 3, Cost Assignment, p. 54-59
Hird and Blair, ‘Minding your own business – Williams v Roffey revisited: Consideration reconsidered’ [1996] JBL 254
Chapter 19. p413. John G.Fleming [4] P419. Textbook on Torts 8th edition. Michael A.Jones [5] Vicarious Liability for Employers. Andrew Scott-Howman.
'subject to this Act, when goods are sold by a person who is not their
The clause may be employed to rely on, if it has been incorporated into the contract and, with reference to the interpretation, if it is extended to the breach in question; if both the previous matters are corroborated, the clause validity is tested under the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 and the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulation 1999.
Chapter-VI focuses on the protection given by the Trade Marks Act, 1999 and tries to analyse the recent trend of interpretation given by the courts to fill up the conflicting terminology use by the legislature under the sec 11(2) and 29(4).