C/L/26. COMMERCIAL LAW - BUYER'S REMEDIES

The purpose of this paper is to examine the rights of a buyer to reject goods under a sale of goods contract. In dealing with this question, I will be examining the position of the law relating to the rights of a buyer to reject goods and the circumstances in which the buyer could be taken to have lost their right to reject goods. All these issues will be considered pre and post the amendments made by the Sale and Supply of Goods Act 1994. The rights of a buyer to reject goods have historically been subject to a number of limitations. However the most important limitation on a buyer's right to reject goods is the concept of acceptance of goods. Acceptance of goods within the context of a sale of goods transaction is different from the normal meaning associated with acceptance. Goods will be deemed to have been accepted in three situations. The first of this is by express intimation, secondly, the buyer may also accept good where he does an act inconsistent with the ownership of the seller and finally where the buyer fails to inform the seller of his intention to reject within a reasonable period of time.