BSP1702 - Seminar 9 - Product Liability.pdf - DEALING WITH...

DEALING WITH
PRODUCT
LIABILITY
SEMINAR 9
Jeanette Ng
[email protected]
NO FORM OF ELECTRONIC RECORDING IS ALLOWED WITHOUT PRIOR PERMISSION

(a) Was there a
breach of the
tenancy agreement?
(b) IF there was a
breach, and there
are no relevant
express terms:
was the mall
closure for a few
days, a
fundamental
breach of the
tenancy agreement
which will allow the
tenants to
immediately
terminate the
tenancy?
(c) What damages
can they sue for?
2
RECAP of LAST WEEK – Remedies

Statutes
• Sale of Goods Act – for
businesses + consumers
• Consumer Protection (Fair
Trading) Act – Lemon Law
for consumers
• Unfair Contract Terms Act
Contract
• Express terms
• Implied terms:
Case
law
• Tort (Duty of Care –
Negligence)
3
Seminar 5
- today’s
Seminar 9
o Statutes eg. SGA,
CPFTA
o Courts
o Customs
Seminar 10
** Additional
Implied terms
• Many others, depending on
category of goods eg. food, vehicles,
medical devices

(1) Product Liability
• There is an important statute governing product liability:
the Sale of Goods Act (SGA).
• The SGA is important, as among other things, it implies
various terms into a contract for the sale of goods :
o see Seminar 5 – Terms of Contract (implied terms)
• These implied terms offer protection to buyers. Does this
include businesses?
4

5

Overview of S
G
A
• Section 13 – Goods must correspond with description
o Regardless of whether it was sold in the course of business
o Buyer must have relied on the description
6
** Additional
Where does the
description come from?
Possible to also sue for Misrepresentation
(does not match with stated description).

Overview of S
G
A
• Section 14(2) – Goods must be satisfactory quality
o Safety, appearance, durability etc
o Seller must have been sold in the course of business
o Exception : buyer examined the goods prior to purchase
OR the defect was brought to buyer’s attention
7
S14(2A) TEST : whether a reasonable person would
consider it satisfactory having regard to the price ,
description and all other relevant circumstances eg.
appearance and finish, minor defects, durability issues,
and safety issues.
** Additional
$1.99 @ Daisho
versus $199 @ Isetan
Example #1
Example #2

Overview of S
G
A
• Section 14(3) – Goods must be reasonably fit for purpose
o Purpose expressly made known to seller
o Implied purpose
o Seller must have sold in the course of business
o Exception : buyer did not rely on seller’s judgement OR it
was unreasonable for buyer to rely on seller’s judgement
8
** Additional

9
** Additional
 Section 13 – Description?
 Section 14(3) - Fit for Purpose?
 Section 14(2) - Satisfactory Quality?

10
** Additional
(cont’d)
His intended
purpose of
sound and
vibration-free
car was not
expressly
made known.
Overall fit for
purpose, as a
luxury vehicle.