Consumer Protection
Ruff (1995) stated that the criminal liability of producers, distributors and suppliers of unsafe products is covered under Part II of the Consumer Protection Act of 1987, which has mandated a general safety requirement. The producer, distributor or supplier of unsafe products incur criminal liability for failure to exercise due diligence. The law is strict but the criminal liability can be dispensed with after showing that they exercised due diligence and have reasonable grounds to believe that the products passed the general safety test (Ruff, 1995). Aside from this, the General Products Safety Regulations 1994, accordance to the European Directive of 1992, enforced the strict criminal liability against the product producers to prevent them from placing in the market any unsafe product that cause harm to consumers. However, based on these laws, the criminal liability imposed upon producers and suppliers does not effectively give the consumers the remedy to file for personal claims unlike in civil law.
Under the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act of 1987, any person who shall be injured brought about by defective products shall have the right to sue for damages. Before the enactment of the Consumer Protection Act, injured consumers have the mandatory requirement to prove that the producer or the manufacturer is guilty of negligence before they are allowed to claim for damages (Consumer Affair Directorate, 2001). However, when the Consumer Protection Act became effective, the injured parties are no longer required to present proof of negligence on the part of the producers or manufacturers. The term product liability was given to the applicable laws which affected the rights of consumers for defective products. In connection with this law is the Sale of Goods Act of 1979 which gave the right for any injured individual to sue the manufacturer on the basis of a defective product. The basis of such right rests on the concept of breach on the part of the
Under the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act of 1987, any person who shall be injured brought about by defective products shall have the right to sue for damages. Before the enactment of the Consumer Protection Act, injured consumers have the mandatory requirement to prove that the producer or the manufacturer is guilty of negligence before they are allowed to claim for damages (Consumer Affair Directorate, 2001). However, when the Consumer Protection Act became effective, the injured parties are no longer required to present proof of negligence on the part of the producers or manufacturers. The term product liability was given to the applicable laws which affected the rights of consumers for defective products. In connection with this law is the Sale of Goods Act of 1979 which gave the right for any injured individual to sue the manufacturer on the basis of a defective product. The basis of such right rests on the concept of breach on the part of the
References: Beale v Taylor [1967] 1 WLR 1193 Consumer Affairs Directorate, 2001 November 17, 2012. < http://www.bis.gov.uk/files/file22866.pdf>. Cooper-Stephenson , Ken D. and Gibson, Elaine, 1993. Tort Theory. Canada: Captus Press, Inc. Dabydeen, S.R., 2004. Legal and Regulatory Framework: For Business in UK. Lincoln, N.E: iUniverse. Grant v Australian Knitting Mills [1936] A.C. 85 Harpwood, V., 2009 McCormick, B. W. and Papadakis, M.P., 2003. Aircraft Accident Reconstruction and Litigation Ruff, A. R., 1995. Principles of Law for Managers. New York: Routledge. Stuhmcke, A., 2001. Essential Book of Tort. 2nd ed.United Kingdom: Cavendish Publishing Ltd.