Buying and selling laws

Press, 5 June 1982, Page 16

Buying and selling laws

Consumer Law in New Zealand by R. D. Mulholland. Dunmore Press, 1982. Table of statutes and index, 163 pp. $17.65. Caveat emptor — let the buyer beware — was the accepted maxim governing business transactions 100 years ago. In “Consumer Law in New Zealand” R. D„ Mulholland follows the direction the law has taken since then to assist consumers and protect them from “fly-by-night” salesmen and unscrupulous businessmen. From the Book Purchasers Protection Act, 1891, to the Credit Contracts Act. 1981, he outlines the effects of the wealth of legislation introduced on consumers' behalf. In the early 1960 s President Kennedy specified four basic rights for the consumer: the right to safety, to be informed, to redress, and to choose. New -Zealand governments have sought tc guarantee those rights through piece-meal legislation directed, at specific problems — usually in response to consumer demand for protection — and the government-sponsored Consumers Institute. ’ The institute was established in .195 S when an acute shortage of consumer goods existed as a result of the war. Bydefinition on the side of the. consumer, the

institute works to fulfil the rights oi safety and information, through an education programme on radio and in schools, and by testing products and publishing the results. Legislation also takes care of the right to information with labelling and advertising regulations and the right of redress through the courts and the Small Claims Tribunal. The right to choose prompted such legislation as the Door to Door Sales Act, 1967, and the Unsolicited Goods and Services Act, 1975, to even the balance for the consumer. Indeed Mr Mulholland suggests the balance may have been swung too much in favour of the buyer. “In case after case parties to- an agreement are finding that once they have reached an initial understanding they are subject to a battery of controls imposed by statute ... the maxim caveat emptor is being replaced by caveat retailer or caveat creditor,” he says in the preface. Mr Mulholland’s book is a comprehensive guide to consumer law, probably more comprehensive than the average consumer needs. A large section is devoted to restrictive trade practices and monopolies and takeovers. However, the book does cover points of law that all consumers should know for their own protection. — Kay Forrester.