An interesting aspect of statute law is that although it is decreed by
Parliament, it is still fine-tuned by the courts, as it is their role to interpret
it on a daily basis. You may have come across contract cases when studying
statutory interpretation, e.g. Fisher v Bell regarding whether a shop
window display is an offer or an invitation to treat.
Examples of statutes affecting contract law include the Sale of Goods
Act 1979, which made huge inroads into protecting the rights of
consumers, and the Misrepresentation Act 1967, which provided a much
needed remedy of damages for those suffering from misrepresentation.
Another example is found in the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977, and this
statute is a particularly good example of a change which would have been
much more difficult to achieve by case law. Many cases had appeared in
court to decide whether particular exemption clauses were valid. Each time
a decision was made on a particular exemption clause, those seeking to use
such clauses would devise an alternative form of wording which would in
turn need further consideration. Parliament, through statute, was able to
make a decree which applied to all such exemption clauses.
European law
A further source of contract law which is becoming increasingly important
is European law. While we do not study primary sources of European law
as an integral part of A-level contract law, they abound in other areas, such
as employment law, and are certainly of immense importance in the
forming of new statutes and making decisions in cases. The Unfair Terms
in Consumer Contract Regulations 1994, for example, is a direct result of
a European directive. A directive must be implemented by individual
countries within the European Union, and Britain chose to implement the
directive via the Regulations. The detail on these, found in Chapter 8, will
show the European nature of this piece of legislation.
The following section of this chapter concerns the use of original sources
of law. It is good to read these sometimes, to understand the way in which
ideas are formulated and to become used to this kind of research. The
sources below are those used by the examination board and include primary
sources (cases and statutes), and in addition material selected from reports
and authoritative textbooks.
Special study: synoptic assessment based on legal
sources
First of all, be reassured. The idea of synoptic assessment is not to catch
you out. The examination board wantspeople who have worked during
their course to have A-level awards. Also reassuring is the fact that in
synoptic assessment you will only be expected to know about areas of law
which are already included in the rest of the syllabus.
266 Contract law