The plaintiff complained after the purchase of a Fiat Omnibus chassis ‘for the road’, to be used for the conveyance of passengers around Bristol, in heavy and hilly traffic conditions. The chassis proved unfit for this purpose on account of breaking-down too often.
Held: There was an implied condition that the omnibus should be reasonably fit for the declared purpose. Buses manufactured by the defendant which were too slightly built for heavy city traffic were both not fit for purpose and not of merchantable quality. Nevertheless, goods may be reasonably fit for a purpose despite minor defects.
Farwell LJ said: ‘The phrase in s.14, sub-s.(2), is, in my opinion, used as meaning that the article is of such quality and in such condition that a reasonable man acting reasonably would after a full examination accept it under the circumstances of the case in performance of his offer to buy that article whether he buys for his own use or to sell it again.’
Cozens-Hardy, LJ MR considered the proper approach for a court interpreting a codifying statute: ‘I rather deprecate the citation of earlier decisions . . The object and intent of the statute . . was, no doubt, simply to codify the unwritten law applicable to the sale of goods, but in so far as there is an express statutory enactment, that alone must be looked at and must govern the rights of the parties, even though the section may to some extent have altered the prior common law’
Judges:
Cozens-Hardy, LJ MR, Farwell LJ
Citations:
[1910] 2 KB 831
Statutes:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Regina v Fulling CACD 1987
It was alleged that evidence had been obtained by police oppression. She had at first refused to answer questions, but an officer talked to her during a break between interviews, telling her that her lover had been having an affair. The . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Consumer, Contract
Updated: 09 December 2022; Ref: scu.464676