Business Law in the UK (GC0141)
Table of Contents
Introduction.
Consumer Act
Assignment Two
2.0 Introduction
2.1 Advice to Robert
2.1. What damage can a consumer claim for?
2.1. Who is the producer?
2.1. What products can consumers claim for?
2.1. What defects can consumers claim for?
2.2 Advice for Robert
2.3 Conclusion
Assignment One: Part 1
Introduction
The Consumer Protection Act 1987 is designed to protect consumers and give them rights when buying goods and services, eg manufacturers are legally obliged to put certain information on products, such as health and safety messages on cigarettes. The act covers a range of issues including fraud, unfair business practice, product liability, and many other consumer and business activities. As well as being bound by domestic UK legislation, businesses must take account of European laws with regards to consumer protection. The CPA 1987 is the UK government’s implementation of the European “Product Liability Directive”.
The main aim of the act is to place legal liability on the producers of defective goods rather than on the sellers of the goods. The act clarifies the steps required by consumers to correctly seek damages against producers. However, this act only covers defective goods rather than goods that are not fit for purpose. These types of goods would be covered by 1979.
Consumer Act
Product liability has developed over the years. The famous case from which the tort of negligence emerged, Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] UKHL 100, was a product liability case. It recognized a principle separate from that of the law of contract, the ‘neighborhood’ or proximity principle. Lord Atkin described this principle as giving rise to a duty to take reasonable steps to protect the consumer, not just the purchaser, from harm. The Consumer Protection Act 1987 adds to the liability of the manufacturer for defective products and imposes a primarily strict liability system.
The Consumer Protection Act 1987 was introduced to give effect to the European Community Directive 1985/374/ECC. However, the enactment of the 1987 Act did not abolish the common law in relation to consumer protection. Therefore actions can still be bought in negligence or contract for situations that the act does not cover. When the Act was enforced, the European Commission took the UK to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) (then named the European Court of Justice), arguing the directive had not been properly incorporated into domestic law. However, the Commission’s claim failed as the CJEU said the directive was properly enforced because the national courts would have to interpret the 1987 Act to give effect to the directive.
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Section 1 of the Act describes what can be considered as a product. Section 1(2) defines a product as ‘any goods or electricity and […] includes a product which is comprised of another product. ‘Goods’ is further defined in Section 45 as including ‘substances, growing crops and things comprised in the land by virtue of being attached to it and any ship, aircraft or vehicle’. As of 2000, a ‘product’ now covers primary agricultural produce due to the Consumer Protection Act 1987 (Modification) Order 2000 (SI 2000/2771).
Section 2 of the Act explains who can be sued over a defective product. Section 2(2) (a) the producer of the product; (b) any person who, by putting his name on the product or using a trademark or other distinguishing mark in relation to the product, has held himself out to be the producer of the product; (c) any person who has imported the product into a Member State from a place outside the member States in order, in the course of any business of his, to supply it to another.
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