The transposition and reform of Article 5(1) and 5(2) of Directive 90/314 : An assessment of the impacts on consumer protection in Spain and the United Kingdom (original) (raw)
International Journal of Law and Politics Studies
It used to be a principle of English law that a seller or a party to a contract was not under a legal obligation to disclose to the buyer or the other party to the contract any facts relating to the contract, even if that fact “would have materially influenced” his decision to the contract. This principle was governed by the legal maxim of caveat emptor, i.e., let the buyer beware. The rle of caveat emptor ‘used’ to apply to a contract of sale of goods and other forms of contract except if the buyer could show that there was an express warranty of quality or there was fraud on the part of the seller. However, in relation to the sale of goods, which is the subject matter of this article, it may be argued that besides this known exception, the rule “has been tempered” by an implied condition in the common law that where the goods are sold by description, they shall be of merchantable quality “[answering] the description in the contract”. Although a purchaser could not benefit from thi...