Consumer Protection Act 1987
|
|
| Long title | An Act to make provision with respect to the liability of persons for damage caused by defective products; to consolidate with amendments the Consumer Safety Act 1978 and the Consumer Safety (Amendment) Act 1986; to make provision with respect to the giving of price indications; to amend Part I of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and sections 31 and 80 of the Explosives Act 1875; to repeal the Trade Descriptions Act 1972 and the Fabrics (Misdescription) Act 1913; and for connected purposes. |
|---|---|
| Citation | 1987 c. 43 |
| Introduced by | Paul Channon Secretary of State for Trade and Industry |
| Territorial extent | England and Wales; Scotland; Northern Ireland |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 15 May 1987 |
| Commencement | 1 October 1987 |
| Repealed | — |
| Other legislation | |
| Amended by | — |
| Repealed by | — |
| Relates to | — |
|
Status: Current legislation
|
|
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
| Revised text of statute as amended | |
The Consumer Protection Act 1987 (1987 c. 43) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that made important changes to the consumer law of the United Kingdom. Part 1 implemented European Community (EC) Directive 85/374/EEC, the product liability directive, by introducing a regime of strict liability for damage arising from defective products. Part 2 created government powers to regulate the safety of consumer products through Statutory Instruments. Part 3 defined a criminal offence of giving a misleading price indication.
The Act was notable in that it was the first occasion that the UK government implemented an EC directive through an Act of Parliament rather than an order under the European Communities Act 1972.
Section 2 imposes civil liability in tort for damage caused wholly or partly by a defect in a product. Liability falls on:
Liability is strict, and there is no need to demonstrate fault or negligence on behalf of the producer. Liability cannot be "written out" by an exclusion clause (s.7)
Damage includes (s.5):
— but damage to the product itself is excluded, as are other forms of pure economic loss.
A product is any goods or electricity and includes products aggregated into other products, whether as component parts, raw materials or otherwise (s.1(2)(c)) though a supplier of the aggregate product is not liable simply on the basis of that fact (s.1(3)). Buildings and land are not included though construction materials such as bricks and girders are. Information and software are not included though printed instructions and embedded software are relevant to the overall safety of a product.
...
Wikipedia