The Gazette 1946-49

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GAZETTE SEPTEMBER 1988
Time Limits and Judicial
Review Applications 237
From the President 243
Practice Notes 2 45
Tax Relief for Borrowing
by Partners 2 47
Valuation Tribunal 251
People and Places 252
Badminton Club 2 57
Commun i ty Lawyers —
right to practise within
the E.C. 259
Buying a Computer 269
Executive Editor:
Mary Gaynor
Committee:
Geraldine Clarke, Chairman
Seamus Brennan
John F. Buckley
Gary Byrne
Michael Carrigan
Eamonn G. Hall
James J. Hickey
Nathaniel Lacy
Frank Lanigan
Charles R. M. Meredith
Desmond Moran
Daire Murphy
John Schutte
Maxwell Sweeney
Advertising:
Liam O hOisin. Telephone: 305236
307860
Printing:
Turner's Printing Co. Ltd., Longford.
The views expressed in this publication,
save where otherwise indicated, are the
views of the contributors and not
necessarily the views of the Council of
the Society.
The appearance of an advertisement in
this publication does not necessarily
indicate approval by the Society for the
product or service advertised.
Published at Blackhall Place, Dublin 7.
Tel.: 7 1 0 7 1 1. Telex: 3 1 2 1 9. Fax: 7 1 0 7 0 4.
GAZETT INCORPORATE D
LAW SOCIETY
OF IRELAND
Vol. 82 No. 8 Octobe r 1988
Viewpoint
It was back in 1975 that the need
was expressed for action to be
taken to protect consumers against
unfair commercial practices in
relation to doorstep selling. Two
years later the Commission of the
E.C. put f o rwa rd a proposal for a
Council Directive, the scope of
wh i ch covered not only contracts
concluded at the doorstep, but also
any other form of contract initiated
by a trader w i th a consumer away
from the business premises of the
trader. The Proposed Directive, the
subject of much critical examina-
tion in the intervening nine years,
was finally adopted "albeit in a
mu ch mod i f i ed f o r m " on 20
December, 1985 and is known as
the Council Directive to Protect the
Consumer in respect of Contracts
Negotiated Away from Business
Premises.
The Directive was adopted w i th
a view to ensuring that a mi n imum
degree of p r o t e c t i on w i ll be
afforded to a consumer in circum-
stances where he concludes a con-
tract or enters into a unilateral
engagement w i th a trader.
The Directive operates on the
premise that a consumer who con-
cludes a contract or enters into a
unilateral engagement w i th a trader
away from the business premises
of the latter occupies an inferior
bargaining position to that of the
trader and, as a consequence, is
dese r v i ng of some degree of
protection. The reasoning is that a
contract or unilateral engagement
of the above mentioned nature will,
more often than not, have emanat-
ed from negotiations initiated by
the trader. The element of surprise
sprung upon the consumer by the
trader's approach (the trader being
in the position to pick the time and
place), t he c o n s ume r 's inex-
perience in sales techniques, the
lack of opportunity afforded to the
consumer to compare the quality of
the goods or service on offer w i th
those on offer in the premises of
that particular trader or any other
trader, or to discuss or deliberate
over t he a p p r o p r i a t e n e ss of
entering into the contract w i th the
trader concerned, are frequently
pointed to as illustrations of the
unbalanced negotiating position of
the consumer vis-a-vis the trader.
The Directive goes some way
towards rectifying this by providing
the consumer w i th a right to
cancel, w i t h in a specified period, a
contract concluded away from the
business premises of the trader.
Ireland, along w i th the other
Member States of the E.C., was to
have passed the measures neces-
sary to comply w i th the Directive
by 23 December, 1987. Whilst the
Minister for Industry & Commerce
is empowered, pursuant to Section
50 of the Sale of Goods and Supply
of Services Act 1980, to make an
order providing for the observance
of a cooling off period in prescribed
situations (during wh i ch time a
consumer shall be entitled to
w i t hd r aw his acceptance of the
contract concerned), this power
has never been invoked nor indeed
have any measures necessary to
comply w i t h the Directive been
adopted to-date. It is hoped that
1988 will be the year in wh i ch the
Minister will, albeit belatedly, make
an order w i th a view to ensuring full
compliance w i th the requirements
of the Directive, and properly
protecting the consumer. •
Cover Photo:
(left) John L. Murray, Attorney
General with Eamonn M. Barnes,
Director of Public Prosecutions.
235