Free Law Dissertations - Question 2 Civil Law 1.plaintiffs And Injured Parties Parties To The
Question 2 Civil Law
1.Plaintiffs and injured parties
Parties to the contract may sue. In tort, this principle extends to all who are owed a duty of care as explained below.
2.Tort
The neighbour principle of Donoghue v Stevenson states that there is a duty of care to third parties where it is reasonably foreseeable that they may suffer injury as a result of negligence.
Al Gee acted negligently by placing an 18 certificate movie in a U certificate packaging. A defence is that he could argue that there is no reasonable forseeability of injury to the children. It IS however reasonably foreseeable that the ‘children’s’ film would have been watched by children and damages are payable for this tort.
The claim will be heard by the County Court, presided over by a district Judge, who will decide the case alone. If the claim if for less than £5000, it will be dealt with by the ‘Small Claims Track’. If the claim is complex, it will be dealt with by the High Courts’ Queens Bench Division most likely by a lone Judge. This action is begun by writ, which is accompanied by a statement of claim where the details of the legal dispute are set out.
All civil damages are for restitution, whereby the sum payable reflects the amount required to place the injured party into the position they were in prior to the tort. This would therefore entail all directly applicable sums for restitution, including professional counselling, transport costs to psychiatry and parental time off work on account of the injuries.
(b)Sale of Goods and Consumer Protection Provisions
There has been a breach of the implied term that goods will comply to sale by description whereby the parents are entitled to a full refund. Unfortunately the Consumer Protection Act 1987 only allows people to claim compensation for injury caused by defective goods. The Consumer Protection, (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 provides that there is a three month cancellation period where adequate information about the goods was not provided in a contract concluded at a distance. If the Al Gee fails to conform, the buyer may apply for the court to grant an injunction to secure compliance.
Bibliography
Legislation
Sale of Goods Act 1979
Copyright, Patents and Designs Act 1988
Consumer Protection Act 1987
Trade Marks Act 1994
Trade Descriptions Act 1968
Consumer Protection, (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000
The Copyright, etc.
