LAW

Sales of Goods Act

Sales of Goods Act

Consider Mr. Li's rights under the statutory implied term of sale by description (s. 13) in The Sale of Goods Act.

According to this situation for Mr. Li's following legal concerns may be implied. s.13 (1) provides that where there is a contract for the sale of goods by description, there is an implied term that the goods will correspond with the description. It is important to note that this section only applies where the sale is solely by description. If the buyer sees the actual goods before the sale then s.13 cannot be relied upon. Appropriation is only complete if the buyer signifies assent by, for instance, agreeing to take delivery of the goods. Unless the parties agree otherwise, the assent of the buyer does not have to take a particular form and can be implied. Where goods of the correct quality and description are appropriated by the seller to the knowledge of the buyer, the buyer cannot delay the passing of property by inaction. This position was clearly stated in Harlington & Leinster Enterprises v Christopher Hull Fine Art [1991] 1 QB 564 concerning the sale of a painting described as being painted by German expressionist, Munter. The purchasers were unable to invoke s.13 when the painting turned out to be a fake because they had sent their agents to inspect the painting before making the purchase. (Goode, 2011, pp. 124) There may, however, be an express term of the contract which may be relied upon or there could be an action for misrepresentation if the goods were seen before the purchase. S.13 is simply concerned with description and not quality as was made clear in Re Moore & Landauer [1921] 2 KB 519. In this case there was a contract for the sale of 3,100 tins of peaches. The goods were described as being packed 30 tins to a case when in fact some of the tins were packed 24 to a case, although the same number of tins was delivered. The purchaser was held entitled to reject the goods under s.13. The term implied by s.13 is a condition in relation to consumer sales but an in nominate term in relation to non consumer sales.

As a matter of fact. Something that's so obviously included that it didn't need to be mentioned in the contract. If I agree to pay you £50 for a lawnmower, it probably wouldn't occur to us to write down that we mean fifty pounds sterling, as opposed to any other sort of pound. That's obvious to both of us. (Beware of this point - it has to have been obvious to both parties - it's not enough to show that one party thought it was included, or that the contract would have been more reasonable with the added term.) (Paul, 2005, pp. 391 - 395)

As a matter of law. This is about general considerations of public policy - the courts are lying down, as a matter of ...